Speeches
Address, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
10 November 2021
PRIME MINISTER: It’s great to be back in Melbourne. It is absolutely wonderful to be back here in Melbourne, as Melbourne begins its process, and Victoria begins its process of roaring back. When I think about Melbourne, I think about the roaring crowd at The ‘G, I think of the roar of the crowd at Flemington, I think of the hustle and bustle of the streets and the people in the cafes enjoying the wonderful city life that is Melbourne, and to see everybody back here this morning, many of you for the first time to be together again in this way, it is really, truly, tremendous to be back. Just as the roar of the crowd, whether it’s at The ‘G or at Flemington, we want to see that roar of the economy back here in Victoria, we want to see that roar of Melbourne as it ascends again and takes its place, and we see it drive once again, the Australian economy, as it so importantly does. So, it’s great to be here, and with so many people who make our economy tick here in Australia.
To Karyn, President of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, thank you for that very kind introduction. To Paul and everybody, I want to thank you.
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
As we approach Remembrance Day, in particular, I also want to acknowledge, as I always do, our serving men and women of the Australian Defence Force and any veterans who are with us here today, and thank you for your service.
I am particularly pleased to be here with the Victorian Chamber - the premier business group for small and medium businesses here in Victoria.
To Paul Guerra and his team have done an extraordinary job, in difficult circumstances, bringing this breakfast together - and I want to thank you very much for hosting me.
I also want to recognise the many colleagues joining me this morning. Too many to mention, and they already have been, but I really want to thank Josh Frydenberg, my Deputy and very dear friend, for his strong economic leadership during the course of this pandemic. Alan Tudge is here of course, and Angus Taylor is here, Jane Hume and Tim Wilson. Here I go. Katie Allen is here, and I’m sure there are others here as well. Sarah Henderson is here, I can see, so thank you for being here with me today.
Can I acknowledge Matthew Guy as well, and thank Matthew for the important role he has played here in Victoria, of reminding everybody about where we have to go forward. We have to go forward in this state, and ensure we stay open, and embraces the opportunities that are before us.
As we gather this morning, the reopening and recovery of our Australian economy is proceeding at pace.
Just last Friday, the Reserve Bank confirmed that our economy is recovering rapidly, and as Josh reminded us yesterday the news of business confidence I think backs that in.
Australia has done the hard yards through the pandemic, and especially here in Victoria, and especially those running small and medium-sized businesses.
I want to thank you for what you’ve done. Of course as a Federal Government, we’ve been pleased to do our bit, to play our role through JobKeeper and many other programmes, but you’re the ones who’ve kept Victorians in jobs.
You’re the ones who’ve kept supply chains open and connected.
You’re the ones who’ve managed the heartache, and the complexity and the frustration of extreme lockdowns and restrictions and keeping your people COVID safe.
And you are the ones who are now opening your doors again.
I also want to thank more broadly the people of Victoria.
You have had to endure what no-one else in this country has had to endure during this pandemic. You’ve had the worst of it. You’ve endured the hardest of it.
And, now over 85 per cent of Victorians over 16 are now fully vaccinated.
The human face of reopening, I’ve been enjoying in these last few days since coming back - recovery and renewal is everywhere to see here.
You see it in the smiles on the faces of small business people, as they pull up the shutters in the morning on their deli, their newsagent or their coffee shop.
You see it in the hugs at airports, as families reunite across geographies and across generations.
And you see it in the really simple of pleasures. Friends catching up. Having a beer. Going to restaurants. Strolling around the shops. Getting a haircut.
It must never be taken from us again.
That is why I put the National Plan together. I also want to acknowledge the wonderful work of the Doherty Institute. A plan based on the best possible medical science, home grown here right in Melbourne, and economics to ensure we open safely and stay safely open. We’re not going back.
Australians have kept their side of this deal by getting vaccinated.
Governments, right across this country, must now keep theirs and return to Australians their freedoms.
So here we are.
One of the lowest fatality rates from COVID anywhere in the world, we’re now approaching one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, even exceeding the UK, on double dose, and one of the strongest economic performances of any developed nation in the world through the pandemic.
So, what’s next? What’s it all about now? What’s the big issue?
Our challenge now is to secure the economic recovery for all Australians.
That is what my Government is 100 per cent focussed on.
Only by securing our economic recovery can we restore our livelihoods and continue to guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on to support our Australian way of life - our health, our security, our jobs, our freedoms.
That is what is now at stake. And we cannot take it for granted.
Economic management matters more now than ever before.
The world remains a highly uncertain place.
The pandemic will continue to rage.
Inflationary pressures are re-emerging, putting upward pressure on interest rates.
Strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, is reframing the global geopolitical landscape, especially in our region.
We need to keep Australians safe.
Supply chains are being disrupted and reformed, not always to our advantage.
And the global energy economy is transforming as the world responds to climate change.
Now, all of these forces have very real implications for Australia.
How we navigate these next few years, the choices we make, as a Government, the choices Australians make as a people, will have a major impact on our future prosperity and indeed the security of our country.
But you know what, I’d rather be us, here in Australia, than anywhere else in the world. As always we have reason to be optimistic. It is our country’s nature, and I can assure you it is my nature.
In its latest economic forecasts, the RBA projects the Australian economy to grow strongly by 5.5 per cent, you didn’t hear me wrong - 5.5 per cent by 2022.
And the unemployment rate, as Josh constantly reminds us rightly, is forecast to decline to four per cent by the end of 2023, the lowest rate since August 2008. It is currently 4.6 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent when we came to Government.
We’re not there yet. There is still a big job to do. But I am very confident that with your enterprise, combined with the continued right policy settings we will continue to secure our economic recovery and Australia’s future.
Today I want to speak more about one of the single largest economic challenges our country will face in the decades ahead. And, there are many, and there will be many opportunities to discuss those as well on other occasions.
But, today I want to focus on this: How we respond to climate change, and the impact that the global response to climate change will have on Australia - that is a significant economic challenge.
These issues are not just about the environment. They will have profound economic implications.
There are great opportunities associated with these changes, but there are also great risks for Australia. It’s not a one way street.
Taking action on climate change is extremely important for the health of our planet.
Australia is doing its part and we will continue to do our part to achieve our target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Australia has already reduced our emissions by more than 20 per cent. Now, I’m not sure a lot of Australians know that. Our emissions are going down, not up. They’re down by more than 20 per cent. You may say to yourself, or others listening in, ‘Oh yeah, other countries, they’re doing so much better than that’. Not true, as Angus Taylor and I had the opportunity to share directly with them, whether it was in Rome at the G20 or at COP26, because a 20 per cent fall is broadly in line with what’s being achieved across the EU. But, it’s better than the United States, it’s better than Japan, it’s better than our Kiwi cousins across the ditch in New Zealand, in Canada and South Korea.
Australia’s emissions intensity has fallen since 2005 by 54 per cent. Now, that ranks Australia second only to the UK of all the G20 countries. I particularly enjoyed sharing that with my G20 colleagues when I was there.
While reducing our absolute emissions by more than 20 per cent since 2005, our economy has grown by 45 per cent, proving that emissions reduction need not come at the expense of economic growth. And, Angus will remind you this is at the same time we developed one of the world’s biggest LNG industries.
Our latest projections show that our emissions will fall by up to 35 per cent by 2030, and may well exceed that. But, what I do know it exceeds is the Paris commitment that we gave of 26 to 28 per cent.
A lot of people are making a lot of claims about what they’re gonna do about this. What I know is what Australia has done, and what Australia will continue to do.
Now, this is happening because Australians are making their own choices in this area, they’re not being told what to do by government or international bureaucrats overseas. That’s not the Australian way.
There is no better example, I think, than the fact that we have now hit three million rooftop solar energy installations in Australia.
Aussie rooftops are now the nation’s largest power station, reducing carbon emissions in 2021 by more than 17.7 million tonnes. And this will only increase more and more in the future.
More than one in four houses and many non-residential buildings have installed small-scale rooftop solar. And we’re adding up to 2,000 small solar installations every business day.
Now, some of you might have heard that I was in Rome and Glasgow recently for the G20 and COP26. A little bit went on while I was there.
The pandemic, our economic recovery and the global response to climate change, that was my focus in my engagement with leaders while I was there.
My discussions at these events, and indeed Angus’s, reinforced my core beliefs about how we, as a free, open and enterprising society, should approach these challenges.
You know, no one passed a law or introduced a tax or passed a resolution at the UN that led to the world developing a COVID vaccine. No one passed a law or introduced a tax for the world to move from analogue to digital. Google and Cochlear were not invented at a UN workshop or summit.
Just as the animal spirits of enterprise have worked together with scientists and technologists to change the world in the past - and we’ve seen that here in this very city - through advances in medical science and digital technology, I am more than convinced they also hold the answer to solving the challenge of a decarbonised economy.
If you don’t believe me, just follow the money. Boris made this point at Glasgow, in his opening remarks, $100 trillion of private capital pouring, pouring like a waterfall into climate technology solutions - that’s the big change between Paris and Glasgow, versus on a good day $100 billion from Governments, all going into climate finance initiatives.
In many respects, Glasgow has marked the passing of the baton from political diktats of targets and timetables, which have had their place and are necessary, to private enterprise and the millions of dispersed decisions, choices and flashes of inspiration that make up consumer-led technological progress.
Of course, summits have their place, I particularly have to say that in the middle of the Exhibition and Convention Centre. But we believe climate change will ultimately be solved by ‘can do’ capitalism; not ‘don’t do’ Governments seeking to control people’s lives and tell them what to do, with interventionist regulation and taxes that just force up your cost of living and force businesses to close.
‘Can do capitalism’, not ‘don’t do Governments’. I think that’s a good motto for us to follow not just in this area, but right across the spectrum of economic policy in this country. We’ve got a bit used to Governments telling us what to do over the last couple of years, I think we have to break that habit. It’s had its place, sure.
The issue in responding to climate change is no longer about if, or why or when, we’ve had that debate. It is all about the very practical question of how.
The world does not need to be punished for climate change, we just need to fix it. And it will be fixed painstakingly, step-by-step, by the entrepreneurs, by scientists, by technologists, by innovators, by industrialists, by financiers, by risk takers. That’s the Australian way. That’s the way I’ve been championing on the world stage. And, you know, like minded capitalist market based economics should be doing the same.
As Liberals and Nationals we have far more trust in those who will risk their own capital to bring about these innovations than Governments using your tax dollars to tell you what to do.
And I think Australians, after almost two years of governments telling them what to do through this pandemic, they’ve had just about enough of that approach.
That approach does not come easy to us as Liberals and Nationals. It just doesn’t. Every fibre of our being in many of the decisions we’ve had to take, it goes against our instincts, it goes against our grain, but it was necessary. But, what you can take from that is we’ll reset, back to letting our economy do the work and let those who drive it be able to do that work as quickly as we possibly can, because that’s how you’ll see the Victorian economy roar back to life. It’s not something, as I said, we instinctively do, and it’s not something Australians want to see more of in the future. I don’t believe they do.
As we work to secure our economic recovery and future, we must secure Australia’s place in this new energy economy.
Countries with net zero commitments cover more than 80 per cent of world’s GDP. And 90 per cent of Australia’s exports are to countries with net zero commitments. That of course is going to have an impact here in Australia. These are decisions being taken in other countries.
We can’t ignore the reality of this. We cannot just sort of wish it away.
Again, my time in Glasgow affirmed my belief that Australia can - and must - chart its own unique path for achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Our geography, our demography, our resource endowments, our human capital, our export profile, so reliant on rural and regional Australia, all mean that our pathway will be quite different to relatively small, densely-populated, services-based advanced economies in the North Atlantic. Just because it works in the North Atlantic doesn’t mean it’s going to work in the Indo-Pacific, in countries in the same way like Australia and certainly not in the developing countries of our region who we do business with every day.
This is why we will continue to join others in opposing prescriptive deadlines for phasing out particular fuels or gutting our agricultural sector - demands that are disconnected from realities, our industries, and our people, particularly in rural and regional Australia.
Demands that are also disconnected from technology trends and the lessons of history, the economic development imperatives of so many countries, especially in our Indo-Pacific region.
The disruptions, price spikes and energy shortages many countries are now experiencing in recent times reinforce why evolution - not revolution - is the only sustainable approach to net zero - politically, economically and, then ultimately environmentally, because it gets the job done.
The Government’s Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan, with our target of net zero emissions by 2050, embodies this approach, building on successful policies and our record of exceeding our emissions reduction targets.
Under our plan, Australians do not have to upturn their lifestyles or our economy to reach net zero. We can make our own Australian way.
Under our plan, Australia will continue producing and exporting world-class resources, energy, manufactured goods and agricultural products, led by globally competitive businesses.
There are five principles that guide our plan. They are:
Technology not taxes.
Respecting consumers’ choices, not telling them what to do with mandates. Trusting customers to make good calls, and trusting businesses and enterprise to respect their customer and their demands and what they want to pay for it, and ensure they can get that cost down to meet that demand.
Driving down the cost of a range of new technologies - many more horses in the race, as we like to talk about, Angus and I.
Keeping energy prices down with affordable and reliable power.
And, also being accountable for our progress. Australia reports every quarter, every gas, every sector, every emissions. The rest of the world has to catch up to that sort of transparency.
Together, all of these are designed to ensure that Australia can shift to a net zero economy in a way that does not put industries, jobs or regions at risk.
The focus of our plan is on driving down technology costs, not increasing the cost of alternatives, and accelerating their deployment at scale across our economy.
It is all about establishing Australia as a leader in low emissions technologies tied to our industrial strengths and our national interest.
We have identified our priority technologies and the stretch goals linked to those technologies to drive down costs. You want to know the targets that matter in achieving net zero:
Clean hydrogen - under $2 per kilogram
Ultra low-cost solar - under $15 per MWh
Energy storage - under $100 per MWh
Low emissions steel and aluminium - under $700 per tonne for steel and under $2,200 per tonne for aluminium
Carbon capture and storage - under $20 per tonne of CO2
Soil carbon - under $3 per hectare per year.
These are the targets that matter, because if you achieve those then you can achieve a decarbonised economy and you don’t have to sell your economy out to achieve it.
My colleague Angus Taylor launched the second Low Emissions Technology Statement at COP26, and I want to thank also and recognise the contribution of another great Victorian, Dr Alan Finkel. I think Alan is here with us today. Chair of the Technology Investment Advisory Council, which advises on these statements. I’ve been well advised by so many great Victorians over, not only my colleagues who are here in the room, but people like Alan who have just been tremendous, the Doherty Institute, Professor McVernon, who you know. But also people like Pat McGorry who have been tremendous advice to the Government. I can see Alan there. Great Victorians who have been tremendous in our national effort.
As well as driving down technology costs, we’re also enabling deployment of low emissions technologies at scale.
Yesterday, we announced the first national Future Fuels and Vehicles Strategy, backed by an expanded $250 million Future Fuels Fund investment.
This Fund will focus on four areas of investment:
Public electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure
Heavy and long-distance vehicle technologies
Commercial fleets
Household smart charging.
Practical things. We’re not going to be forcing Australians out of the car they want to drive or penalising those who can least afford it through bans or taxes. Those regulations and taxes hurt those who can afford it least, and they’re usually cheered on by those who can afford it most. I don’t think it’s fair. Rather, the Strategy will work to drive down the cost of low and zero emissions vehicles and enhance consumer choice.
Today, I’m announcing a further step beyond Glasgow and towards net zero, as part of our step-by-step Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan - aligned with our technology not taxes approach.
At present, around 75 per cent of the $20 billion of Commonwealth investment in low emissions technologies by 2030 is focused on supporting the deployment of near-commercial technologies.
Some $13 billion of total financing is through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
Analysis to inform our plan, including by organisations such as the International Energy Agency, show that a large share of the emissions reductions necessary to achieve net zero will come from technologies that are not yet commercially available. I made this point to Fatih Birol when I was with him in Glasgow.
For Australia to become a low emissions technology leader globally, we will need to continue to expand support for early-stage technology research, development and demonstration, that’s where we can play a role - to support the Technology Investment Roadmap stretch goals, by getting Australia within range of net zero and then to close the remaining gap through technology, not taxes.
To that end, the Government will establish a $1 billion Low Emissions Technology Commercialisation Fund within the CEFC, injecting $500 million in new capital with the balance $500 million to be sourced from private sector investors.
This Fund will address a gap in the Australian market, where currently small, complex, technology-focussed start-ups can be considered too risky to finance.
So, we’ll step in. It’s about supporting an idea, an idea that then gets to a lab, that then gets to a market, and then into your home or business.
The Fund will support Australian innovators to develop their intellectual property and grow their businesses in Australia, and is expected to earn a positive return for taxpayers. It’s a good bet.
It builds on the CEFC’s success as the world’s largest government-owned green bank. The CEFC has committed $9.5 billion across 220 large scale projects and 23,700 smaller scale transactions, driving an estimated $33 billion in new investments across the economy.
The Fund is very much in line with what Bill Gates has been talking about, and I met up with him also at Glasgow and compared notes on the technology challenges and opportunities that are ahead.
As Bill has observed this in the book that I asked my entire Cabinet to read, which they did, ‘We need to think about how to turn lab-proven concepts into ubiquitous products that people want and can afford to buy’.
This, he notes, ‘will require a massive effort to fund hundreds of commercial demonstration projects of early-stage climate technologies’ - projects that are complicated, risky and expensive - and hard to finance.
So, that’s the approach we’re taking. It’s precisely the challenge we are responding to with this new Fund.
The goal is to deploy a blend of private and public finance and technical assistance on the road to net zero.
We are seeing our technology-driven approach to reducing emissions play out right across the country, including here in Victoria, drawing on established industrial strengths and skills.
The Latrobe Valley has a long history as an energy producing region.
It is geologically suitable for producing hydrogen and storing carbon underground, while also being in close proximity to electricity and shipping infrastructure.
These advantages underpin the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project, a world-first pilot project supported by the Australian, Japanese and Victorian Governments - a project designed to safely and efficiently produce and transport clean hydrogen from the region, which again Alan has been closely involved in, Alan Finkel.
This is just one example of the opportunities available to regional Australia in the new energy economy.
We’re also working to secure the future of Australian manufacturing in a post-COVID, low emissions economy.
For the first time since 2009, manufacturing employment is once again topped a million jobs. A million Australians working in manufacturing. Under Labor, one in eight manufacturing jobs, gone. We’ve restored them, and we’ve done it through a pandemic and a global recession.
Our $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) is helping transform manufacturing businesses so they can scale up, translate ideas into commercial success and integrate into local and international supply chains.
Just two examples, I’m almost done.
The Integration Stream of MMI helps manufacturers integrate products into domestic and international value chains and to enter new markets.
With $2.3 million in funding, the Victorian manufacturer Titomic is working to commercialise the manufacture of space vehicle parts using green titanium for Australia’s growing space sector and for overseas export.
Another Victorian-based company, Savic Motorcycles, has been awarded a grant under our Commercialisation Stream, to develop a range of affordable electric motorcycles.
It is on course to develop the first Australian designed, assembled and tested high performance battery electric motorcycle to roadworthy certification.
This nexus of government and business co-investing in low emissions technologies and products will be the key to driving growth in modern manufacturing.
Ladies and gentlemen, our Government’s technology-driven approach to reducing emissions it will have clear benefits and it will also have them beyond our borders.
Through the joint efforts that Angus Taylor and Alan Finkel have undertaken, Australia has negotiated a series of new low emissions technology partnerships with key partners - Japan, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, the UK and Indonesia - and we are close to concluding one with our great friends in India.
Our emissions reduction goals are also indistinguishable from our geostrategic challenges.
There are two aspects to this.
The first is that carbon credits that become an important source of income for developing countries in our region.
In collaboration with our partners in the region, including the Quad - the United States, India and Japan - we’re working to establish a high quality carbon credit scheme in the Indo Pacific, building on Australia and Japan’s existing efforts.
We can’t afford for the supply chains of the new energy economy to be dominated and held hostage to the geostrategic objectives of countries that do not share our interests, or have our interests at heart.
We are therefore progressing through the Quad specific proposals to forge closer partnerships between our economies to build competitive and reliable net zero supply chains that start with the production of rare earths and critical minerals.
At the Quad meeting in Washington in September, I announced that to accelerate that work we will host a Quad Clean Energy Supply Summit in Australia in the first half of next year.
It will be a unique opportunity, frankly for Australia to show off about what we’re doing in this area, but also to learn from our many colleagues and partners in the regions. High-level dialogue between the governments of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, and many other regional partners, as well as leaders in science and technology, manufacturing, mining, finance, risk takers, entrepreneurs.
Tomorrow is Remembrance Day and one of the greatest figures in our history is the legendary General Sir John Monash.
Sir John was a soldier, as we know, and an engineer.
After War’s end - in 1921 - a century ago, he was made the first chairman of the State Electricity Commission here in Victoria.
In its day, it was a new industry, with technical challenges and it had more than its fair share of critics.
Sir John saw the potential of low cost and reliable power. For jobs, for households, for the regions, and for Australia’s future, and Victoria’s future.
The technologies have changed. The solutions of 1921 are not the same as 2021. For Sir John Monash, the engineer, he would have understood that.
But a century on, the challenge is similar, if the technologies may be different.
Innovating for our times. Building and creating a job boosting economy.
Keeping power prices down and ensuring reliability of supply - so that industry and households can have confidence.
And for our generation, it is to do this while keeping emissions down as we transition to a clean energy economy.
That is what we are doing, that is what our plan seeks to achieve. And, friends, that is how we secure Australia’s economic recovery, and Australia’s economic future.
Press Conference - Port of Newcastle Carrington, NSW
08 November 2021
Mr Craig Carmody, CEO of the Port of Newcastle: Good morning everyone. The Port of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and waters that we operate on, the Awabakal and Worimi people, and we pay our respects to their elders, past, present and future. I'm Craig Carmody, the CEO of the Port of Newcastle, and I'm joined by Mike McKensey. Mike is Divisional Director of Macquarie Group and our partner in this project.
Mr Mike McKensey, Divisional Director of Macquarie Group: Thank you all for coming today. Prime Minister, on behalf of Macquarie Group and the Port welcome back again. The last time the PM was here, we showed him our plans for a container terminal, a key diversification strategy of ours. Today, we're very happy to show him the other diversification plan we have, which is clean energy. Macquarie Group and the Port of Newcastle have come together to do a step change for the region of the Hunter, which is to prepare us for the low carbon economy. We are the world's largest exporting coal port, so we know that diversification is not a nice to have, it's a must do. And we are confident we can achieve this. We are already a leading global port and we have the supply chains. We have the customers. We have the markets. So it makes sense for us to make this play. We believe our diversification strategy is entirely consistent with the Prime Minister and Government's net zero plan. It's about supporting existing jobs and businesses, while seizing the opportunities that the new carbon economy, or the low emission economy creates. And Prime Minister with your support for these life changing projects, we are sure that the port will be able to assist in creating jobs and businesses that secure the future of the Hunter. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Thank you Craig and thank you Mike, and all the partners in the important announcement we're making today. And I'll introduce Nell and Brooke in just a moment. Australia's economic recovery coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic recession is well underway. The Australian economy is powering out of this pandemic in a way that few countries are around the world. We know that we've had one of the lowest rates of fatalities of COVID of any country in the world. We also know now with the New South Wales about to tip over 90 per cent double dose vaccination, the country over 80 per cent. We'll have one of the most vaccinated populations anywhere in the world, and most importantly, our economy is the economy around the world. One of the most advanced developed economies in the world that is powering its way out of this COVID pandemic. We're seeing that with our businesses, some $150 billion on their balance sheets, we're seeing the insolvencies that are down. We're seeing businesses taking up the new opportunities. And that is critically true here in the Hunter.
And the partnership that is being brought together here in the Hunter is incredibly exciting. The Hunter has gone through its fair share of changes over my lifetime, and what's really exciting is how the Hunter keeps adapting, keeps evolving, keeps seeing the opportunities that are ahead, but also maintaining that rich legacy of its history, its industrial base. And it keeps finding ways to move forward, creating jobs for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people right across the region, securing those opportunities, but at the same time, maintaining the momentum that it's always had. It's a place that builds things, a place that makes things, a place that innovates and ensures that it's bringing its young people through so they can stay here. They can have a career here, they can raise their families in what is a beautiful part of our country. And today we're announcing $1.5 million as part of a partnership together with the Port of Newcastle and Macquarie Group. And there are many other partners to play a role, with the University of Newcastle, the City of Lake Macquarie. So many partners coming together to ensure that hydrogen, a hydrogen hub here in particular can be a great success.
Hydrogen is one of those great technological opportunities for Australia, which is recognised all around the world. When I was in Glasgow recently, it is understood. You want to get hydrogen, this is the place to get it. And this is why we need to invest here in places like the Hunter because we make it work here, it will work in so many like regions all around the country. Our plans to move to a lower emissions future very much has the Hunter at the centre of our thinking. Everything we do, every plan we have, every investment we're making is making sure it works here in the Hunter because we know if it works here, it will work to create jobs and prosperity all across the country. So that's why I'm always so pleased to come back. One of the reasons it worked so well in the Hunter is because of the collaboration between the state government, the federal government, local government, the ports, the universities, the companies that are here, the entrepreneurs who are investing their own funds to ensure that this can be realised. We're investing $1.2 billion in our hydrogen industry here in Australia to make this work and our entrepreneurs, our industrialists, our scientists and researchers are making this happen to make sure that this technology is affordable, that it's simple, that it's scalable. And you know, we get that right here, Australia will be able to export this to the rest of the world. So this is a huge opportunity. A 40 megawatt electrolyser, four times the size of things currently under contemplation here in Australia, and that will go up to a thousand megawatts. And that will mean that right here in the port of Newcastle, the world will be able to plug into Australia's hydrogen industry well into the future. And when you plug that in, you're plugging the Hunter into jobs well into the future. So it is a very exciting plan. It is a very exciting future here for the Hunter. It sits absolutely perfectly within our lower emissions technology plan to take Australia forward and to power up Australia's recovery out of the COVID pandemic. So I'm very pleased to be here to be announcing that today. Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, is the vehicle through which we're making these investments, through which we're making so many other investments. $20 billion together with the CFC, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, together with the Renewable Energy Agency, pumping into the new technologies, whether it's hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, low cost soil carbon management measurement, the green steel and aluminium, all of these important technology targets that we will meet and drive our economy forward.
So with that, I want to introduce Nell McGill and Brooke Vitnell. Nell is our candidate, Liberal candidate here in Shortland, and Brooke Vitnell is our candidate in Paterson. They're key members of my team, and I'm really thrilled that they've been able to step forward and take up these roles and put themselves forward in the Hunter. Because together, by supporting them, the Hunter is supporting their own future, the jobs, the investment, the technology that will continue to see the Hunter have a very powered up future. And with that, I'll start with Brooke and then hand over to Nell.
Brooke Vitnell, Liberal Candidate for Paterson: Thank you, Prime Minister. My name is Brooke Vitnell and I am the Liberal candidate for Paterson at the upcoming federal election. I have the great privilege of welcoming our Prime Minister Scott Morrison here to the Hunter region today. This is our Prime Minister's fifth visit to the Hunter in the last 18 months. So I know he's committed to the Hunter and committed to jobs here in the Hunter. Here, we have a proud history of digging, bending, making and shaping things. And I know our Prime Minister backs the jobs of each and every single one of the people working in those industries. I have a pledge in particular to the people of Paterson. I pledge to put the people of Paterson first every single day. I want to see Paterson be a better place for people to have economic opportunities, jobs, more jobs for our most precious resource, our young people. I'm a firm believer that those putting up their hand to run for the community they seek to represent need to match the strength and aspiration of that community and when I look at the Paterson electorate, I see strong and aspirational Aussies right across the Paterson electorate. So, thank you Prime Minister for your commitment to the Hunter. Thank you.
Nell McGill, Liberal Candidate for Shortland: I'm Nell McGill, I'm the Liberal candidate for Shortland. I'm so proud to once again be the Liberal candidate for Shortland. I want to say thank you to the Prime Minister and Senator Hughes for being here on this exciting day. I want to be a fresh and positive voice for Shortland. The Hunter is going to be an economic powerhouse coming out of COVID and under the Morrison Government's plan to reach net zero by 2050. And that means fantastic opportunities in Shortland. My focus is going to be the jobs and infrastructure that we need, so the people of Shortland have safe and happy lives and happy futures. I'm really looking forward to getting out and meeting as many people as I can to find out what the people in Shortland want to make their lives better. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Happy to take some questions, focusing on things local at first, and then I am sure there are other questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, could you first explain the hydrogen hub? What does it actually mean? How does it work for the people at home?
Prime Minister: Well, what this means is, hydrogen has been around for a long time and it is the future fuel, whether it's how it produces ammonia as well, which could be used in coal fired power plants, not just here, but all around the rest of the world. It is the fuel that can charge up our mining trucks and get them operating, and power vehicles to travel extremely long distances. It is the fuel that actually can over time ensure that it can make up, in some estimates, 10 per cent of the world's energy needs. And Australia is so well placed with this because we have the space and we have the technology and we have partnerships with, take companies like Sun Cable, which is another low emissions technology venture. You combine that with the work that is being done in hydrogen hubs which we’ve set up all around the country in places just like the Hunter, which get a combination of science and the engineering and the technologies, the university together building up in skills. And you take that through to how you do powering up your manufacturing industries as well. Hydrogen is simply a fuel that can power our traditional industries and our energy generation. It means lower cost, and it means more jobs for the Hunter.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you said [inaudible[, so what message did you sell to Glasgow and how was it received? And do other countries recognise we are doing this?
Prime Minister: Our commitment to net zero by 2050 is not going to be achieved by legislating jobs away. It's not going to be achieved by forcing people to do things. It's going to be achieved by getting the costs of the technologies that change the world, down. Not by putting the cost of other things up. You don't have to put electricity prices up to get emissions down. You don't have to sell out your economy and the jobs in your economy to get your emissions down. Australia has had a 20.8 per cent fall in our emissions since 2005, and we've had a 45 per cent increase in the size of our economy. And at the same time, we've actually developed one of the largest LNG industries in the world. Our emissions intensity has fallen by 56 per cent. Now, there's only one other country in the G20, which I told them in Rome, that has a better performance than Australia when it comes to emissions intensity, and that's the United Kingdom. Better than all the other countries in the G20, and there are only four countries that have actually had a better performance on emissions reduction in the G20 than Australia. And that's France, Italy and the United Kingdom and Germany. That's it. And all the others, Australia has outperformed.
What I was able to say in Glasgow, is Australia is doing it. We're doing it here in the Hunter. We're doing it up in the Pilbara, we're doing it up in Darwin, we're doing it up in north Queensland. We're doing it down in Bell Bay in Tasmania. Australia is doing it our way, the Australian way. The Australian way is not legislating jobs away. It's not putting costs on businesses. It's actually providing the right incentives and the right investments to make technology a reality. You get hydrogen for $2 AUD per kilo and you are really starting to fire up your economy and the economies of our partners around the world. Now let me make another point about that because it wasn't just developed advanced economies from Europe that I was meeting with in Glasgow. It was Indonesia, Vietnam, countries in our own region, India, developing economies. Developing economies who need this technology and they need it at the right price. And so they can scale it. You're not going to address climate change unless you can put low cost technology in developing countries like that. Countries like Indonesia and Vietnam and India. They're looking to Australia for that. In the same way our big trading partners, when I met with the new Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Kishida, as well as the President Moon from Korea. These are the issues we were talking about. Australia has always been a big energy partner for our region. And, you know, with programmes like this, we will continue to be. So if you're working here in the Hunter, well, you've got a bright future.
Journalist: Prime Minister, when will you release the net zero modelling?
Prime Minister: Soon.
Journalist: Do you have a, do you have an estimation then?
Prime Minister: Soon.
Journalist: A few months?
Prime Minister: Soon.
Journalist: And when will we see the details of the deal struck with The Nationals, do taxpayers have a right to see what that deal was to get that agreement?
Prime Minister: We're already outlining our policies and all of that we'll announce between now and the next election, which will show the big investments that we're making in the regions to back in these investments we're making, particularly in new technologies like the hydrogen hubs all around the country. The investments we're making in the regions are about them making those regions stronger. And so that's a good deal for Australia.
Journalist: Just on the local picture, you've got Brooke and Nell here, front and centre today, you must be confident then that you can flip those two electorates, Shortland and Paterson?
Prime Minister: Well, I think they represent the right way forward for the Hunter. Nell and Brooke represent a way forward for the Hunter, which is about ensuring we maintain the momentum of the heavy industry that is here in the Hunter, while at the same time embracing the new opportunities. You don't have to let one go to take up the other. And what the Liberal Nationals way forward here for the Hunter is to embrace that industry, to support that industry, to ensure that they can compete around the world and be and be world's best in these areas, and to ensure that we don't legislate away the jobs. I mean, the Labor Party is against the Kurri Kurri gas fired power station, and now we hear they're going to legislate to tighten up the safeguard mechanism using heavy regulation to regulate away jobs here in the Hunter. That's what their plan is. The Labor Party is always the same way. They want to tell you what to do. They want to legislate everything. They don't trust Australians to just get on and do it. We've been able to reduce emissions by over 20 per cent in this country because of the inspiration of entrepreneurs, good investment and good support from governments through our Emissions Reduction Fund, our Climate Solutions Fund, which continues to be a big part of our net zero plan, which is bringing about the changes that help us meet these targets. The Labor Party just wants to legislate everything and tell you what to do. That's not what Brooke and Nell are about, they're about backing the decisions of locals with what they want to do.
Journalist: Prime Minister, in one sentence, can you tell us why Australians should return you as PM based on your record?
Prime Minister: We have, through the course of this pandemic, had the strongest economic performance of almost any country in the world. Now there's only been one recession in the last 30 years because of that pandemic here in Australia, and we've got 1.4 million people in jobs since we were first elected. The unemployment rate now is down 0.6 per cent. We've managed to maintain our AAA credit rating, one of only 9 countries to do so in the world. And we've done that with one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, and we'll end up with one of the highest vaccination rates. Australia, under our government, has had the strength to stand up to those who would seek to counter our interest. You've got to have the strength to do those things. And our government has the strength to stand up for Australia and importantly, do the right things by our economy that keeps people in jobs.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the West Australian Government has committed to reopening its borders to the rest of Australia at a 90 per cent vaccine rate. Will you be asking Mark McGowan to reconsider this? Have you spoken to him?
Prime Minister: Well, I just spoke to him last Friday. We had the National Cabinet. The modelling done by the Doherty Institute makes it very clear, and that's what was agreed in the national plan, not just once but twice. And that is, once you hit 80 per cent double dose vaccination rates, then you're able to move forward. We're seeing that here in New South Wales. We're seeing it in Victoria, seeing it in the ACT and the most recent work done by Doherty just backs that in even further. Of course, there's a big difference between 70 and 80 per cent. When you look at the curve of the pandemic, once you hit 80 per cent, whether it's a low number of cases you're going into like would be the case in Western Australia, or a high number of cases like we've seen in New South Wales and Victoria. Once you hit that 80 per cent threshold, there is a scientifically backed-in proposition, which is that you can take the next step. And the advice we have from the Secretary of Treasury from Dr Kennedy is once you go over 80 per cent and you keep things locked down, you are doing more harm than good to your economy. You are actually putting a price on Australians, when you continue to put heavy restrictions on your economy, once you get 80 per cent vaccination rates. So the national plan was a deal with Australians. My government is keeping our part of that deal. Australians and keeping their part of the deal. Today, the boosters start. The boosters start on November 8. Those who are immunocompromised have been getting their booster shots. Looking forward to turning up and having one very, very shortly. And those booster shots are important. But what's even more important is the fact that here in New South Wales today, we will go through that 90 per cent threshold of double dose vaccinated and that will only just further strengthen our economy.
Journalist: [inaudible].
Prime Minister: They were dealt with a year ago by the Department of Finance who found that there was nothing further to investigate.
Journalist: Prime Minister, locally, one thing you haven't been able to get on with here is the container terminal, there's been a change in the state coalition government. Can you update us on how you see this playing out?
Prime Minister: Well, I've always thought this is a good plan, and I've said that while I've been here before. The ACCC have been dealing with these matters and they really want the parties to be able to sort this out, and I certainly hope they do because I just want to see more investment, whether it's in the Port of Newcastle or right across the region. There is, this footprint here at the Port of Newcastle, I think is incredibly valuable, not just for the jobs that are out here, but the linkage it gives to right across the region and frankly, the whole state. I mean, this is the biggest port on the eastern seaboard of our country. And so this is a very big deal and we want to see that to continue to go forward and be highly competitive. So that's what our economic objective is. We're very hopeful that parties could resolve that so they can actually take it forward.
Journalist: Is there something to be done at your level, Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: Well, there's not much further that we can do at our level. What we need is the parties to be able to sort it out and get on with it.
Journalist: What's your response to allegations aired on 60 Minutes last night that the Assistant Treasurer is rorting or misusing taxpayer funds for party political purposes?
Prime Minister: Well, I just answered that question a second ago.
Journalist: Are you confident children aged between 5 and 11 will get a COVID vaccine by the end of the year? Or is it now looking more likely to be next year?
Prime Minister: Well look, thanks for the question. We discussed this last Friday. The TGA, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, have not yet formed a medical opinion that that should proceed at this point. And the studies, we were advised last Friday, that led to the decision in the United States were based on a sample of some 3,000 individual cases. Now vaccinating children aged 5 to 11, you know, we need to be very careful. We need to be very cautious. And I can tell you that we won't take a further step on this unless there is clear medical advice that it should proceed. Any parent, I'm sure, would want the government to be as careful as possible with the whole population, particularly children aged 5 to 11. We've also been advised by the Chief Medical Officer that the incidence of serious disease amongst younger children with COVID is not the same for the rest of the population, so the risk is different for children aged 5 to 11 compared with those who are older. So we'll be ready to go if and when the medical experts say it's safe to do so and we won't be authorising a vaccination arrangement for children aged 5 to 11 until the medical experts say it's safe for your children to be vaccinated. Okay, thanks, everyone. Thank you.
Press Conference - Westconnex Motorway Control Centre, St Peters, NSW
05 November 2021
Dr Fiona Martin MP, Federal Member for Reid: Alright, well, I'd like to firstly acknowledge the traditional owners on the land in which we meet and acknowledge all Indigenous people across the country and their connection to land, seas and the community.
It's very exciting to be here this morning to see the progress that has been made on the M5, M4-M5 interchange here at WestConnex. I believe above me here is Newtown, which is very close to where I went to university, the University of Sydney, so it's really exciting. This project is going to have incredible, significant changes to the people's lives in my area of Reid. Parramatta Road, which is a very busy road in Reid, trucks will be taken off Parramatta Road. There'll be less pollution. People will be able to get home faster and safer from work. It's going to make a big difference to people's lives and this is a significant project. A State Government and Federal Government initiative, $16 billion. It's going to change the way we get around Sydney.
I'd also like to just quickly welcome back the Prime Minister from Glasgow. I'm sure you're still jetlagged. I'd also like to acknowledge the Premier of New South Wales Dominic Perrottet, who is here, and all my state and federal colleagues who are here to see the progress that is going on.
I will hand over to the Prime Minister now. Thank you very much.
Mr Scott Charlton, Transurban CEO: No, that's okay. Thank you. Thank you, Dr Martin. Thank you for that Welcome to Country. I'm Scott Charlton. I'm the CEO of Transurban. We're very privileged to have all of you here, and welcome to the M4-M5 Link, and we're very privileged to have all our guests here I think, Dr Martin, you introduced. So thank you very much for that.
Again, just to give you an idea where we are, we're 50 metres below Newtown. And if we go back out that exit there, we're about a kilometre away from St Peters Interchange, where we'll meet Sydney Airport and move on to Port Botany. And if we go six kilometres in that direction, we’re at Haberfield and we meet the M4 Tunnels. We all know that WestConnex is a city shaping project and we're very, very proud to be a part of it. We know that within 10 years, about 40 per cent of Sydney's population will live within five kilometres of this 33 kilometre road network, and it is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Australia. That being said, last year there were over 150 million trips taken on the first two projects of WestConnex, and that was saving a tremendous amount of time, safety, and not only time in these roads, but time on the, the competing roads or the alternative roads as well. And the Prime Minister is going to mark the milestone we hit today, in just a few minutes.
But I'd like to thank the over 9,000 workers who have so far created this project. They’ve put in over 10 million man hours, and when you combine that with the other two projects that are part of WestConnex, that's over 50 million man hours that have been worked on this project. And thank you to our partners and JV and Acciona Samsung Bouygues, it's around here somewhere, who are doing an excellent job, safety and efficiency, and going to produce a world-class asset and on time.
And also would like to thank our partners in the New South Wales Government and the Federal Government, who without their vision, their planning and their foresight, and the original funding, this project would not be possible and we wouldn't have been a part of it. So thank you very much for allowing us to be a part of it.
But mostly, we'd like to thank the community, Dr Martin and every other MPs along the route, we'd like to thank you for your patience and understanding in completing the project. We're very excited. It's almost over for you. And now I'll turn it over to the PM to mark the occasion.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Scott and Fiona. It's great to be here with Dom Perrottet, Premier of New South Wales, and my state and federal colleagues, and to say thank you to them for the breakthrough that we're marking today. Can I particularly acknowledge the 9,000 workers who are making this amazing project a reality here for the people of Sydney. It is a breakthrough.
There's another breakthrough that we're going to go through today, and that is that 80 per cent of Australians aged over 16 will be double vaccinated today. We will pass through that mark today and that will be another massive breakthrough for Australia. And, so, as we're breaking through here on the M4, M4-M5, we are breaking through in the economic recovery that will now follow from the success of that vaccination program, which the Premier understands has been led right here in New South Wales with that fantastic job. We are seeing Australia open up and this is something that we're all terribly excited about, and it's wonderful to return home and see those scenes, whether it's here in Sydney or down in Melbourne, the ACT, the news about the borders opening up in Queensland, and even the changes that are being made in Western Australia. Australia is recovering and is emerging from this COVID-19 pandemic.
And I want to particularly congratulate the workers here who have pushed through during COVID and ensured that we've been able to continue to deliver on this city shaping and changing project. Of course, the Federal Government put $1.5 billion into stages one and two, some $2 billion in concessional loans. But the State Government now pressing ahead with stage three of this project. In talking to those, the workers here on the site, you think back to what it must have been like when the Harbour Bridge was built in Sydney. And you think about the change that that made to the city at that time. WestConnex is no different. WestConnex has been a city shaping and city changing piece of infrastructure. It's had its opponents, there's no doubt about that. But I can tell you, the Liberal Government’s at a federal and state level have always believed strongly in this project. And we’ve pressed ahead at it over the many, many years, because we know how big a change it is going to mean for people living in Australia's biggest city.
It means 40 minutes off your journey from Parramatta to the airport. I mean, that's massive. It means 10,000 trucks coming off the roads. 10,000 trucks coming off other roads, which means that those roads are safer. That means those, those congested arteries of our cities are freed up. That's how important this project is. And, you know, we're working together at a Commonwealth level and a state level like never before to deliver these big projects.
It's not just here, but of course, what's happening out at the Nancy-Bird Walton Western Sydney International Airport. These are the big projects. The inland rail making its way all the way through New South Wales. These are the nation changing projects. Snowy Hydro 2.0. All of these projects has been driving Australia through what has been one of the most challenging economic times through the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 recession. And here we are, emerging now, positively, optimistically, looking forward to the future. I'm certainly looking forward to that as Australia re-emerges, whether it's the, achieving these, these record rates of vaccination, or the breakthrough projects that we're seeing here today.
I really want to thank the New South Wales Government. I want to thank the Premier. Premier obviously today and also as aTreasurer, as we both were when these projects were going through their earlier phases. I really want to thank Dom for his strong leadership on that. And of course, I want to thank the former Premier Gladys Berejiklian. I'm sure Dom would join with me in saying that and our colleagues who had the strength also to be pushing through with this project.
So, as two Liberal-led Governments, we’re getting on with it, for projects that are changing the lives, getting people home sooner and safer, getting them to work sooner and safer. And that's what busting congestion is all about with these nation building, game changing projects. And with that, I'll pass on to Premier Perrottet.
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, thanks, Prime Minister. It's great to be here with you, our ministerial colleagues and our state MPs and federal MPs for this important announcement. This is a game changer for our city and state. And as Scott Charlton spoke about, he used the word vision, and that's exactly what this announcement today and this progress today is all about.
We, for many years, for many decades, Sydney and New South Wales stood still. The Prime Minister spoke about the Harbour Bridge or the project's $108 billion of infrastructure investment that's occurring right across our state today, is not just driving economic growth and jobs growth, it's going to transform the way that we live and play for decades to come. This is all about projects like this saving time so people can get home to their families faster. This is a breakthrough of a tunnel, but it's a massive breakthrough for Greater Sydney. These investments, billions and billions of dollars, they're big numbers, both from the partnership between the State and Federal Government, in partnership with Transurban. They're they’re big figures, but behind every one of those dollars is a person in our state who these transformative projects will make a real difference to as we move forward. Imagine now, when these projects are complete driving from the Blue Mountains all the way to the Sydney CBD without having to pass one traffic light. These are the changes. These, this is the visionary infrastructure investment that will take our city from good to great.
As Sydney grows, we want it to grow well, whether it's public transport, and I was down with Minister Stokes, who’ll speak shortly, down with the Metro at Barangaroo the other day, another major project in the pipeline. When we came to office, the Northwest Metro in North West Sydney had been promised for decades and decades and decades, back when I was a kid at school, but we got on with the job. We built that project and we're on to the next one. There's a wave after wave of these major infrastructure projects here in our state that will make, that is making a real difference to people's lives today and well into the future.
The Prime Minister spoke about the pandemic and the economic challenges that we've had. It's been the infrastructure investment in this state that's driven our economic growth and laid strong fiscal and economic foundations prior to the pandemic beginning. We didn't just turn the switch on, and the Prime Minister spoke about the 9,000 people working on this project, including Maddie Turner, who I just ran into, I was at college with, these these projects, and this strong pipeline, provide certainty for all workers across our state as we head into the future. It's, in the lead up to the pandemic last year, just our public investment of $108 billion over four years was contributing around half a percentage point to our economic growth each and every year, plus the tens of thousands of jobs. That's providing opportunity and prosperity for people in Sydney and right across our state. And it's great to be here today with the Prime Minister and our colleagues to announce another important milestone as we take our city and state from good to great.
The Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts: Well, as Commonwealth Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities, I'm very pleased to be here to join the Prime Minister, the Premier, Minister Stokes, New South Wales Minister for Transport and Planning, Fiona Martin, Member for Reid, Scott Charlton and all of the crew from Transurban, all of the workers here, all of my state and federal colleagues, and we're here, as the Prime Minister and Premier have said, to mark a very significant breakthrough on this project. And of course, the continuation of what's been, throughout the lives of the New South Wales and Commonwealth Liberal National Governments, under different leaderships, but we've continued to get on with delivering WestConnex and so many other important projects around Sydney, Commonwealth and State Liberal National Governments working together.
And one really important feature of WestConnex is the way that it will improve access to so many parts of our enormous metropolis, for people from south western and Western Sydney, Liberal National Governments, State and Federal, working to deliver infrastructure for the people of Western Sydney. Of course, this joins with the Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, $5.3 billion. The new metro that's being built to the airport, over $10 billion, joint Federal and State. The new M12 that will go to the airport $2 billion, Federal and State. The Northern Road being upgraded to four lanes all the way, Federal and State investment. Liberal and National Commonwealth and State Governments, the Morrison Government, the Perrottet Government working together and particularly delivering better access, better facilities, transformational infrastructure investment for Western Sydney and for our whole city.
The Hon. Rob Stokes MP, NSW Minister for Transport and Roads: Thanks, everyone. Well, as has already been said, this is a case study in collaboration. It proves what can be achieved when governments work together in the public interest. I remember talking to an old planner many years ago who said that many returning servicemen and women from the Second World War thought that they were coming back to help build Sydney's motorway network. Yet while governments have talked about this for 70 years, we're actually getting on and delivering these important links that we know provide $14 billion in productivity benefits to everyone in society and help us with our 60, 60, $66 billion freight task here in New South Wales alone. These are big figures, they’re big projects, but ultimately, as Fiona Martin said, it's about the people. It's about the people who can get home quicker and more safely. And as the Prime Minister said, it's about the 9,000 people who have worked so hard to make today a reality. Thanks.
Prime Minister: Well, happy to take some questions, but just before I do that I should have mentioned, when I met with His Royal Highness Prince Charles at Glasgow, one of the key things he raised was the great urban projects that are being done here in partnership with the New South Wales Government, and made particular mention of the work that both Premier Perrottet’s been doing and Rob Stokes was doing as well. And I think that's a great recognition of what is happening here in New South Wales, and particularly here in Sydney. And, so, congratulations, Dom. It was, it was great to hear his keen, keenness, and I know you both have worked closely with him on that, but happy to take some questions.
Journalist: You did just return from overseas, you didn't have to quarantine, are you grateful for the Premier sorting that out for you?
Prime Minister: Very. I can assure you. It would have been my fifth quarantine in the last 12 months. So I think it's tremendous and I think that's a demonstration of what Australia has achieved. Today, not only has New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT reached 80 per cent double vaccinated for those aged over 16, but the whole country will be past that 80 per cent mark over the course of today. And when we get the figures tomorrow, I'm quite certain that will be confirmed and as we meet together, the premiers and chief ministers and I later today, that will be a moment to reflect on. I mean, we've achieved that in the first week of November. That means we overcame all the challenges that we had with supplies that didn't show up from Europe and things like that. And we pushed through and we've got it sorted. And I particularly want to commend General Frewen for the great job that he has done, supported by, of course, Professor Murphy and Greg Hunt and here in New South Wales, Brad Hazzard and all of them. Achieving that 80 per cent milestone here in Australia in this timeframe, Australians have rolled up their sleeves. They've kept their part of the bargain and governments are keeping their part of the bargain. And that's why I can join with you today.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Prime Minister: Well, what's most important, whether it's in WA or Queensland, is they need to get those vaccination rates up to those marks and now until you hit those marks, then those opportunities that are now being realised here in Sydney and across New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT. What those same things can be enjoyed in Western Australia and in Queensland. So the real task is to get those vaccination rates to those same levels we're seeing in other states. And you know, those numbers are lifting. They obviously haven't moved as quickly as they have in New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT. But if we keep driving forward on that, I'm particularly pleased to see how the 12 to 15 year olds vaccination rates have lifted. Our kids are back at school. How good is that. How good is that, Dom?
Journalist: What do you think is the main differences, the comparison between the states and territories, why has New South Wales and Victoria gone faster than Queensland and WA? What do you think the reason is?
Prime Minister: Well, look, I think an obvious part of it has been the third wave that hit New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. I think that's a very fair assessment. And you know, when you're in a state where there's been effectively no COVID, there's a different level of urgency in that state compared to what happened here in New South Wales. And you know, we understood that. I mean, New South Wales was facing the worst of that third wave, and that's why we were able to secure those additional doses, those Polish doses. So I was very pleased to see the Polish Prime Minister in Glasgow and to thank him very much, particularly on behalf of the people in New South Wales. Because when I spoke to him, what I said to him, I said, you know, we've got a real big challenge here in our biggest city and this will really help us to be able to try and break the back of the challenge we had here in Sydney. And that's indeed what happened. And so I was very grateful to him and of course, the UK government to Boris and everyone there and Sajid Javid. That really helped us breakthrough here in New South Wales. And that breakthrough in New South Wales led to the breakthrough in Victoria, the breakthrough in the ACT. And I believe it will lead to the breakthrough right across the country.
Journalist: [Inaudible] travel to Bali before Christmas?
Prime Minister: Yeah, I believe it is. President Widodo and I did have a good discussion about that. He is really pleased that Australians are travelling again just as pleased as Prime Minister Bainimarama is that about people being able to travel to Fiji and the Pacific Island leaders who I met with overseas are very thrilled about that. You can imagine what that's going to mean to their local economies, and the same is true in Indonesia. So they're looking to see how they can reduce the number of days that would be required when anyone or particularly Australians are going into Bali. And I would expect over time to see that fall, but they're obviously being cautious about that and and that is entirely appropriate for them. And but as we know on the 21st, I was able to announce with, when I met with Prime Minister Lee that we'll have that open arrangement with Singapore from the 21st of this month. And what that is showing is particularly here in New South Wales, we're just taking it step by step and demonstrating how this works, giving Australians confidence all around the country, that this is working, that we're opening up the economy. You know, we've got $110 billion worth of infrastructure that we want to see get built. And for that to happen, the country has to be open, ports have to be opening and working well, and we'll be focusing a lot on that issue as well.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on the French contract, the US President suggested that was handled clumsily, do you concede that?
Prime Minister: We've moved on from that issue, that's what I said when I was in Dubai.
Journalist: You spoke about the economic breakthrough, in hospitality we're suffering from critical shortages, [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: Yeah, I know the Premier will want to speak about this, and we share a view about this. I'm keen to see that happen. I'm keen to see it happen this year in whatever staged format we can, and I think it's going to be particularly important for our agricultural workforce. We're already moving quite well on our Pacific programmes for workers. We've got the new agricultural visas as well. We spoke to, I spoke to President Widodo about that, ensuring that Indonesia could participate strongly in our agricultural visa programme and there was keen interest in that. But we, you know, as we're, as we're now in economic recovery mode, in fact, beyond that, we're in growth mode with our economy, realising that means we've now got to deal with the supply side challenges we're going to have. And that is in the labour markets. It is on the ports. It is ensuring that our cities are functioning well, which the timeliness of projects like this is so important coming out of COVID, we need to be removing those blockages, ensuring that red tape is not going to dry up investment or stymie investment. We've got to get on with the clean energy technology changes that we're putting in place and developing all that. But Dom, I'm sure you'd want to talk about that.
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, let me begin by saying that it's a better problem to have that high unemployment. And the good news about some of these shortages is it provides an opportunity for people right across the state to get into work and in a challenging time. Over the last two years, we lost close to 300,000 jobs last year, recovered every single one of them in this state, plus 30,000 more. We've had a challenging time during Delta. We want to get everybody back into paid work and the financial stimulus by the federal and state government here has allowed us to provide opportunities for businesses to remain open, for our workers to remain paid in what's been a challenging time now. In relation to labour shortages, it's a serious issue. It's a major issue facing our state, the Commonwealth Government and the Prime Minister is completely across that. We've, as he has pointed out, we made some substantial changes in relation to agricultural visas. That was most important because we didn't want to have after droughts and bushfires in our state, a situation where our produce was left to rot on the ground. And that's been crucial in ensuring that regional New South Wales continues to recover from the pandemic. But obviously in the hospitality sectors and in those other areas where shortages are, we need to address that. We'll continue to work closely with the federal government. As the Prime Minister has said, it's a staged process by ending quarantine for fully vaccinated people in Sydney. That has been a great start. Obviously, with the returning Australians that then moved to other areas and we need to ensure as we move through this period that businesses have the support. The other thing that's important as well is we've had pretty flat wage growth in this state for a, and across the country, for a sustained period of time. There's great opportunity now for our workers who are sitting at home to get out, get a job and get paid well.
Journalist: Prime Minister, do we still need purpose built quarantine facilities given the two biggest states no longer require quarantine?
Prime Minister: Well, the decision we made to go ahead with those was not a short term decision. I will never forget that first weekend when the events of Wuhan had become very clear and there were planes on their way to Australia from Wuhan that weekend. And it's important that in the future, for whatever pandemic we may face in the future, that we have that initial bank of facilities in Victoria and that one is progressing well. We've changed the scale of the one in in Queensland, Western Australia. So at three points, we can ensure that there are facilities in place at those arranged. So that was not from our point of view, as much about dealing with the current situation, although it can, particularly in Victoria, provide some support because we're still quarantining unvaccinated Australians coming back into the country. That is still the case and that could present some challenges so that it's, I think, provides a positive contribution. But this is about a longer term capability and they have been built to be multi-use facilities as well. So they had their own longer term, not just their shorter term advantages.
Journalist: Last month you accused the Queensland Premier of extortion on hospital funding, what's changed and how much are you prepared to provide?
Prime Minister: Well, we announced today we're going to keep the block funding arrangements in place out till the end of this year, and we've extended out also for some time ago, the COVID arrangements, which are 50/50 arrangements. We have the National Health Reform Agreement, which provides record funding into hospitals. But I got to say, and I'm sure Dom might want to comment on this as well, but when we were looking at the modelling for what the impact on our hospitals would be and, you know, tremendous work was done collaboratively at a federal-state level to really understand all the scenarios that we might face in terms of the pressure on the hospitals. Those worst fears have not been realised. The worst case and they weren't even the worst case scenarios, there were far worst case scenarios we had to be mindful of. And it reminded me a lot of that early part of the pandemic when we were preparing for the absolute worst and thankful for the best. And I think that's what we're seeing now. We were prepared for the worst and we're thankful for what is one of the best results that we're seeing. I've had the last couple of days had the opportunity to share experiences with other countries who have been going through this and a lot of their experiences have been very similar. So it is, you know, we have put in place the plans to deal with the surges here in New South Wales and Victoria, and I commend the Victorian Government as well. They planned well and that I think gives a lot of confidence to Queensland and where there hasn't been the big number of cases for them to deal with. And in Western Australia and others which will eventually when their borders open up, face some demand on their system. But I think the states in New South Wales and Victoria that it can all be managed well. You plan well, we've modelled it and worked through those issues. And I think that has been a good result. But Dom, I think you've got similar a experience.
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, I think it's one of the untold stories of the pandemic was initially from the outset we invested record amounts in our health system. I remember saying to the Health Minister at the time, whatever you need financially, you will have, to ensure our public health system particularly was ready for the worst case scenario. Now we didn't go anywhere near that, but that's been a substantial benefit to our health system here in our state, and we're incredibly confident as challenges come our way moving forward and the pandemic is not over. As we open up, case numbers will increase, hospitalisations will increase. We know that, but we're ready. And ultimately, from the state's perspective and as a former treasurer, I'm always going to try and get more money out of these guys. But ultimately, what our strategy and our approach and plan during this pandemic is to stand out own two feet in this state, to not blame the Commonwealth, but to actually deliver for our people. And that's what we're focused on. We're going to make the investments. We spent, I announced yesterday, since the pandemic began, we've invested $44 billion in this state and whether that's on business support or the health system right across the board. That's close to half our annual expenditure to keep people safe, to keep people in work and to get businesses open. So we'll continue to do that as we move through this difficult time. But we're confident we're in a very strong position here in our state.
Journalist: Premier, just on this project here, you say it'll be open to travel in 2023, will it be open before the 23rd of March 2023 and the material we've received still has the Beaches Link on it, obviously all this talk we've had today of Coalition governments working together, to deliver projects, will you deliver the Beaches link?
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Oh, well, that's part of our infrastructure programme and pipeline. We've got $108 billion over the next four years. We've allocated money in the 21/22 Budget, close to $500 million for the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link project, and we continue to work through it. In relation to the opening of this project, well, you know, we don't build infrastructure for the sake of winning elections. We build infrastructure to make a real difference to people's lives. So obviously it's, you know, open in 2023. What's most important is that we get it done and we get it done properly and with the 9,000 people working on these projects, we're very confident we'll get it open as quickly as possible.
Journalist: Paul Toole's failure to declare [inaudible], is he well and truly across his disclosure requirements?
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, look, I spoke to the Deputy Premier yesterday, obviously after Estimates. He's rectified that. He had disclosed his properties as he was required to. He just hadn't mentioned in the rent aspect that he was receiving an income. He's spoken to the legal team at the Department of Premier and Cabinet. He's made the appropriate change.
Journalist: He didn't do it for seven years though, is that a pretty big oversight?
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, look, let's you know, it was an oversight. But in terms of the scheme of things, it was a mistake and he's rectified the mistake. And that's most important.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
The Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP, Premier of NSW: Well, there's a review being currently undertaken by the Commonwealth Grants Commission in relation to GST reform. We've always held the view here in our state that GST distribution should not penalise states that reform, but incentivise states to reform. You know, it goes back to Michael Egan days where we've argued for a per capita basis in New South Wales, but we haven't always got our way. I've taken the view that we have an obligation to support smaller states. That's still, that's still our perspective. But there's always going to be these discussions. And I think as we move forward post this pandemic, there's going to be a real discussion between the Commonwealth and state governments in relation to federal financial relations and those arrangements moving forward and we should welcome that.
Prime Minister: Just as we go. To all of our Indian community in Australia, I'm sure that Premier Perrottet would join me, we wish you all a very happy Diwali and Namaste.
Remarks at Al Minhad Air Base - Dubai, UAE
3 November 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you Patto, as I know you are affectionately known by everybody here. And to their Excellency, our Ambassador and to our host, the UAE thank you for your tremendous support so we can all be here. But to all of you, who've I come to see and say thank you. I want to thank you for your service to our country. This has been the base that has been responsible for Australia's largest ever air lift in these circumstances. It was, I think, some of Australia's proudest days, as over the course of a very short period of time, the men and women here working together, but agencies also outside, the ADF, Australian Border Force and DFAT, ensured that 4,100 people were brought to safety from one of the most dangerous places in the world. And it was the innovation, it was the determination, it was the professionalism, it was the training, it was the dedication that you have spent all of your service preparing yourself for a time such as that. And in that moment, our defence forces and all of those who served at that time were not found wanting. What we found is you excelled, you exceeded the expectations. At the outset of that operation, we had envisaged that perhaps it could be as many as a thousand people we would have to airlift over that period of time, and it was more than four times that amount. And you continue, you continue to ensure that people are even still being brought to safety, and are making their way to Australia for their new home. There are thousands and thousands of Australians who have been taken from Afghanistan to their new home in Australia. And the people they can thank most for that are the men and women who served during that operation and who brought them to safety and put themselves at great risk.
So I am very grateful to all of those who were here at the time, and I know there are still some of you here, but there's been a rotation since then and those who have come in and continued that work know that the standard set by those who were here during that time was a very high one. And I have no doubt that should you be called upon in a similar way, that you would be able to respond in exactly the same measure. So, your country is incredibly proud of what you're doing here. I know you're far away from your family and your friends and that's what you have chosen to do in your service. And that is a service that we're very grateful for. So I'm looking forward to getting around and having a bit of a chat and hearing a lot about your service, and for those particularly who were here at that time, I'm particularly keen to see you as well and I want to wish you all the best for the rest of your time here. Please stay safe. And on behalf of Australia, thank you. Thank you.
Press Conference - Dubai, UAE
3 November 2021
PRIME MINISTER: It's a great honour to be here. First up, I just want to say how thankful I am that Cleo is home and that she's safe. To Ellie and Jake. This is every parent's worst nightmare and the fact that that nightmare has come to an end and our worst fears were not realised is just a huge relief and a moment for great joy. This particular case obviously has captured the hearts of Australians as we felt such terrible sorrow for the family. And I want to thank particularly all of the police and all of those who were involved in making sure that Cleo’s safe. And we're so thankful. Thank you so much for what you've done. I know you do it every day and I know that you'll soon feel a great sense of satisfaction in the work you've done to bring it home. But we know each and every day they're out there doing the same thing and trying to keep our kids safe and keep our people safe. And so thank you so much, and I just thank God that Cleo is home and that she's safe.
It's a great honour, as I said, to be here at Camp Baird. This was the site of our base to run what was the largest ever airlift that we've ever been involved in as a country. Round here, over 2,000 people at any one time were there and being supported and cared for. This was an extraordinary operation and I want to congratulate Air Commodore Patterson and his whole team for what they were doing. We were obviously speaking very regularly during that time. 4,100 people were airlifted out of one of the most dangerous places in the world, and we brought them here. And I particularly want to thank the Crown Prince and the United Arab Emirates for their hospitality and their incredible support during that time. The Crown Prince made it very clear to me as we spoke quite often over that period back in August that whatever we needed, they would be there to support us. And here we are still to this day as people are still being- had been brought through here on their way to Australia, in addition to those who were evacuated at the time.
In terms of where we've just been over in Glasgow, those talks will continue. Australia was able to go there and outline very clearly not just what our commitments were, because Australia always meets and beats our commitments when it comes to addressing the very real threat of climate change and not just in terms of emissions reduction, but the support for developing countries, particularly in our own part of world, our Pacific family and South East Asia, to deal with the adaptation challenges that they have right now. And Australia has been a leader in that area of providing that support for resilience in developing countries, and that has also been an important part of COP26. It is, of course, about reducing emissions, but it's also about dealing with the impacts right now. Australia understands those very well, and we have tremendous partnerships right across the region to help particularly developing countries to deal with the impacts of climate change that they're experiencing right now.
I wish the rest of COP26 all the best for the discussions, and I congratulate Boris Johnson on the work that he's done to try and bring people together around this challenge. For Australia's part, it's about technology enabling us working principally through the private sector now, which will carry so much of this because it's the entrepreneurs, the industrialists, the financiers working together with the scientists and the researchers that will be delivering those technological solutions on the ground. Our technology led approach was well received by all of those I spoke with. They understand, like we understand that if you want to actually deal with this, you must drive the costs of these low emissions technologies down. So they're realisable, so they're scalable, so they're affordable not just in developed countries like Australia, but they’re realisable, affordable in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam. And, of course, China and India. And so Australia's case at COP was very much about supporting them to ensure they can achieve what I know they want to achieve, but they need to be able to do it with the technology that gets them there. And Australia intends to be at the forefront of delivering that technology.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on Cleo Smith, how important was the AFP to the case and what will you do with the police services to ensure that they can, you know, if this ever happens again, that they can find the person quicker.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, God forbid that it does, but we know the risks are very real and and every parent knows that. But the AFP has record support from our government and will continue to, and we have extraordinary people who work within the AFP and the capabilities that they have. I won't go into the details of this case specifically other than to say that everything that we have available to the AFP was there to be used and to lock in with the work that was being done in Western Australia. And so, I congratulate the Western Australia state police, they've done a tremendous job there. Had this occurred in another state or territory, I know the exact same thing would have happened in terms of the capabilities that would have been brought together. And so we're just very pleased and very proud of those who did such a great job to bring Cleo home.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, should world leaders feel safe to send you messages from now on because this is the claim from the French Ambassador back in Canberra that they might now have concerns those messages might be leaked.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me just make a couple of points on this issue. All the obvious objections and reactions to Australia's decision here have come from all the obvious places for all the obvious reasons. I'm not going to go further into these issues as, you know, I set out very clearly how and why Australia made the decisions that we did. Now this contract was about delivering the best possible capability for the men and women who serve in our Defence Forces. We have 250 of those here. That's what these contracts are about. These contracts are about giving Australia the capability we need. So the men and women who serve in our defence forces can get on and do their job and keep Australians safe. That's what these contracts are about. They're not about other countries. They're about Australia and our defence interests. And we're focused on that. And that's what this issue’s about. I'm going to, it's important now that we all just move on, frankly.
JOURNALIST: You said this is about the contract. It is beyond that now. The Ambassador to Australia says that relations are now at an unprecedented low because personal messages between you and President Macron were leaked.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was very clear about what that communication was and that was necessary given the matters that were raised, but I don't think there's any further profit for anyone in continuing down this path. We made the decision we needed to make in Australia's national interests. We understand the concerns and objections that have come in relation to that. They were understood when we made the decision and this was the decision Australia needed to make in our national interest and that is something that I'm responsible for and I'm very keen to ensure that now we move on and deliver that capability, which the men and women of our Defence Force need. That needs to be the focus now, and that's certainly going to be my focus.
JOURNALIST: Mr Macron's office in France …
JOURNALIST: Given all of this, do you intend to actually issue an apology?
PRIME MINISTER: There’s no need for that.
JOURNALIST: Mr Macron's office in France is briefing newspapers in Paris that the leak came from your office. Did the leaked text message from Mr Macron come from your office and has it made things worse?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll just say again, I made very clear what the timeline was and why I believed that we had made very clear that there were very significant issues about us moving forward with this contract. See, Australia made the decision not to go ahead with a contract for a submarine that was not going to do the job that Australia needed it to do, and I'll never make any apologies for that decision.
JOURNALIST: Malcolm Turnbull's joined Emmanuel Macron. He's called you a liar. He's called Emmanuel Macron the greatest leader of our times. Would you like Malcolm Turnbull to find something else to do with his time?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, as you know, I always treat all former prime ministers with respect, and I'm going to continue to do that.
JOURNALIST: Is this one treating you with respect, this former PM?
PRIME MINISTER: All of you can make your own judgements about that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, obviously, it was a highly unusual event for private messages of a foreign leader to be leaked. What was the threshold that necessitated that? Was it the, was it President Macron calling you a liar?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, claims had been made and those claims were refuted.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, was it fair for you to do what you did?
PRIME MINISTER: Claims were made and claims were refuted. What is needed now is for us to all just get on with it. I mean, that's what is most important to the Australian people. That the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia get on with the historic agreement that we came to, to deliver an incredibly important capability for Australia, to keep Australians safe and to defend and protect Australia. That's the most important thing. That is what is, that is what is at issue here. That is the thing that matters most to Australians is that we do everything we can to ensure that Australia's defences are the best they possibly can be. And the men and women who serve in our defence forces get the best. And that's what I was seeking to do. If others have other motives, if others have other agendas. Well, that's for them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, they say it's not just the subs, they say there was sharing of data as well, like, you know, like you're talking about with the AUKUS agreement. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: We were operating under the contract at the time and and we're not going ahead with that contract. We're not going through those gates.
JOURNALIST: It's clear this diplomatic stoush is not going away. The French Ambassador says Australia has stabbed France in the back. So what are you going to do to try and repair this rift?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to move on and get the job done.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister has the gain from this trip been worth the pain?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, importantly, at the G20 and again at COP26, I had the opportunity to talk with a large number of leaders, in particular yesterday with the newly elected Prime Minister Kishida. And we'd spoken before, obviously the election. But the fact that he had prioritised so highly a meeting with ourselves and Japan's key partners, I think speaks much to that very good relationship we have with Japan and the partnerships we're forming through the Quad. The meetings I've had, whether it was with Vietnam or those in Eastern and Central Europe, the opportunities to engage with leaders, in that part of the world doesn't come around in such numbers very often. And what I sense from all of those discussions was such a keenness to engage with Australia across Europe. I had a very, very warm and very helpful meeting with with Chancellor Merkel, who of course, is retiring. I thank her for the wonderful relationship Australia has had with Germany. But Australia's relationships across, right across Europe, I think recognise that Europe is a very big place and there's a lot of countries that we work with there very effectively who are very keen to understand Australia's perspective on the Indo-Pacific, and they understand and respect Australia's role in the Indo-Pacific and they're very keen to engage more. And I was encouraging particular European countries to engage more, particularly economically in the Indo-Pacific and to work together, especially on the challenges of addressing the climate needs and the technology and the development that is needed to take place in particularly developing countries in our region.
JOURNALIST: PM, you met the IEA yesterday, the head of that agency has expressed concern about nuclear proliferation. It is an issue with the nuclear submarine proposal. What was your message to that agency about how you would contain nuclear proliferation with that submarine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're going to work very closely with the IEA and we had a very positive meeting and they'll have a clear process that we'll completely comply with. Australia's non-proliferation reputation is not under challenge, it is not under challenge at all, and we will ensure, as I stressed to countries when and if they raised it, I did proactively on many occasions just to affirm that once again Australia, particularly in the Pacific, has a very strong record when it comes to nuclear non-proliferation. Australia can speak in volumes about the consistent approach that we've had in thr Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Better than the French?
PRIME MINISTER: I just speak to Australia's reputation
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how can any world leader trust you or build a relationship with you if private correspondence is going to be leaked?
PRIME MINISTER: I have outstanding relationships with so many leaders around the world, and that's what I've been engaged for over the last couple of weeks, I've already addressed the point that you've made in earlier questions.
JOURNALIST: Just on climate change, are you disappointed that China didn't turn up, the bigger polluters didn't turn up? And do you still believe, I think, as you argued a couple of years ago, that the developing nation status needs to be questioned in terms of the leave pass it gives them among things like pollution?
PRIME MINISTER: The approach Australia took to COP26 was to talk about what we were going to do and how we were going to particularly work with other countries to meet the technology challenge of addressing climate change. That's what we were doing at COP. We weren't there to lecture others. We weren't there to tell others what they should be doing. We were there to focus on what we were going to do and how we were going to contribute and work with others and the technology partnerships, which we formed with so many countries now. And we look to extend that even further. There was very good discussions with Vietnam, who are very interested in working with us on these issues and we will take those forward in the weeks and months ahead. So it's very clear that whether it's in China or whether it's in Indonesia or Australia, indeed in the North Atlantic developed countries, unless you get the cost of this technology down, rather than focusing on putting the prices of energy up everywhere else, then you are not going to get countries actually achieving the things they say they want to achieve. That is the practical task now. Post COP26, it's not about the if and the when, it's only about the how. And we need a mission focus of the world's R&D efforts into the technologies that are actually going to make a difference here. And they will work as much in the developing economies of the North Atlantic as they will in the developed economies of the North Atlantic, I should say, and the developing economies of the Indo-Pacific. It has to work in both places and for that to happen, this is about enlisting the private sector effort, whose own investments will outpace all government efforts, as it indeed should.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, China has a list of grievances. It seems like France now has a list of grievances as well. Is there a dollar figure that makes this go away? And realistically, there's the presidential elections for Macron in April, and we will have our election around the same time or whenever you choose to call it. Realistically, you'll have to settle on some sort of a financial arrangement. That's my take out from today's speech. And will it sort of take that cycle, you know, moving on to next year, to be able to work through this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I said, the objections to Australia's decision not to proceed with those submarines and go forward with nuclear powered submarines was made in Australia's interests. Those who objected to that decision have objected for very obvious reasons with very obvious motives. But I know whose side I'm on. Thank you.
Address, National Statement - COP26
1 November 2021
PRIME MINISTER: There is cause for optimism as we gather here.
18 months ago we were staring into the abyss of a one in hundred year pandemic. The vaccines we would need had not only not been invented, but there had never been a vaccine for a Coronavirus.
But here we are. Billions vaccinated and the world is reclaiming what COVID has taken from us.
The challenge of combating climate change will be met the same way.
And it will be met by those who are frankly largely not in this room. It will be our scientists, our technologists, our engineers, our entrepreneurs, our industrialists and our financiers that will actually chart the path to net zero.
And it is up to us as Leaders of governments to back them in.
Technology will have the answers to a decarbonised economy, particularly over time. And achieve it in a way that does not deny our citizens, especially in developing economies, their livelihoods or the opportunity for a better quality of life.
Driving down the cost of technology and enabling it to be adopted at scale is at the core of the Australian Way to reach our target of net zero emissions by 2050 that we are committing to at this COP26.
Cleaner technology solutions must outcompete existing technologies if they are to be successful everywhere, and especially so in developing economies.
This needs to work not just in the developed economies of the North Atlantic, but in the developing economies of the Indo Pacific as well.
Raising the cost of energy just impacts on those who can afford it least.
Driving the emergence of low-emissions technologies and fostering their widespread adoption is at the heart of our plan to reach net zero.
And that’s why we’ve set cost targets for clean hydrogen, low cost solar, low carbon steel and aluminium, energy storage, carbon capture and storage and soil carbon.
And we’re not starting from scratch – 90 per cent of commercial solar cells globally use Australian technology.
Australia has the best rates of rooftop solar in the world.
Our installation of renewables is eight times faster than the global rate and three times faster than some of the most advanced economies in Europe.
We have already reduced emissions by more than 20 per cent since 2005 and 54 per cent as an emissions intensity measure. We’re ahead of the pack. Over the same time, our economy has grown by 45 per cent, proving that economic growth is not at odds with emissions reduction.
And by 2030 our nationally determined contribution here at COP26 notes that our emissions in Australia will fall by 35 per cent by 2030, far exceeding our Paris commitment. Australia meets and beats on its commitments. And we are doubling our initial climate finance commitment for our pacific family and south East Asian partners to $2 billion committed here at COP26.
Looking forward we are forging technology partnerships domestically and abroad - with Singapore, Germany, the UK, Japan, Korea and Indonesia — and we are close to concluding one with India.
Australia is investing over $20 billion dollars over the next decade to drive the transition, leveraging private sector investment to reach $80 billion dollars in total.
We are also working to establish high-integrity offsets internationally. Working with our close friends and neighbours in the Indo-pacific.
The scene is set. Global momentum to tackle climate change is building. Countries with net zero commitments cover over 80 per cent of world GDP. In Australia’s case, 90 per cent of our exports are to countries with net zero commitments.
Our researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and most importantly our people are ready. The Australian way is to bet on them — and we think that’s a good bet.
Press Conference - Glasgow, Scotland
1 November 2021
SIR ROGER CARR, CHAIRMAN OF BAE SYSTEMS: Good morning, everybody. My name's Roger Carr, chair of BAE, as you know. We welcome today the Prime Minister who we're delighted to see to look at a project that has united two countries in pursuit of building one of the most advanced warships in the world. So we've been able to show him that today and reinforce the partnership that exists. So, Prime Minister, please.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Sir Roger. And to Charles and Simon and the whole crew here who are doing such a fantastic job on what is a vision of the future for the Royal Australian Navy behind us here. Nine of these Type 26, which will be Hunter class frigates in Australia, an investment of some $35 billion. Mid this decade, we'll be cutting steel and we look to get the first one of them later in the decade.
SIR ROGER CARR, CHAIRMAN OF BAE SYSTEMS: Indeed.
PRIME MINISTER: And that's where we're tracking, and we've had a good opportunity to talk about the project today. When I was here in London a few months ago, Sir Roger, Charles and I had another opportunity to meet to talk about the project and how we were proceeding. So it's good to see it in real life and to see- have a vision of what is to come. And it's great to catch up with at least one of the Australians from Adelaide who are here working on the ship today because a big part of this is the skills transfer that takes place in such enormous tasks, of these naval shipbuilding projects. And so this is one of just many as people know, and the partnership with BAE has been very, very positive. And I thank you Sir Roger for the accessible way you've been able to engage on issues. They're difficult projects. All of these are. They have their challenges and their problems. You work through them and that's how you get ships in the water and that's how you look after Australia's national defences. I'm happy to take a couple of quick questions on that if you'd like, because there's a number of other matters I know you're keen for me to address and so am I, but I wasn't going to impose on Sir Roger and Charles others. So are there any questions you wanted to raise on that matter. Not today. Thank you very much.
SIR ROGER CARR, CHAIRMAN OF BAE SYSTEMS: Thank you very much Prime Minister. It's terrific to see you again.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, I want to address a number of the issues that came up when we gathered together yesterday for the press conference. I have no interest in personalising these matters. That's not what this is about. But I thought it would be good to give you some of the background as to where we got to and how these decisions were made.
Certainly, the submarine contract was a significant investment by Australia. A decision taken five years ago. At that point, given the strategic circumstances at the time and the technology available to Australia, the Attack class submarine was the right decision for Australia, but there have been significant changes that have occurred in our strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific, which has completely changed the game. And it's also fair to say that the contract that we had with Naval, had its very significant challenges. There were quite a few issues that went to following through on the commitments on Australian industry content. There was a lot of issues in relation to delays in the project and of course, the costs. These were matters that we raised quite regularly and indeed I raised with President Macron at each opportunity when we either spoke over the phone or we had our bilateral meetings going over a number of years. Those delays and those concerns led me to take a decision early on about 18 months ago or thereabouts, to ensure that if we did have concerns about how this project might proceed, then we would need to have an alternative. And in my view, we had to have a better alternative. I didn't want Australia to settle for less, and we'd always had the aspiration to have a nuclear powered submarine. And so I set in path the process of investigating whether that was possible. That was very tightly held. And frankly, at that point, the likelihood of that succeeding would not have been rated as high.
But we went methodically through that process. Working with both the United States system, it wasn't raised, as I told you before at a political level with the previous administration and wasn't raised with the current administration until well into this year after technical and other issues around nuclear stewardship and Australia's capability had been thoroughly assessed. And fundamentally dealing with those technology issues around the stewardship issues- the nuclear stewardship issues because the reactor technology available from the United States goes into the boat over the course of its life, which of course, as I told you, doesn't then require a civil nuclear industry in Australia to be able to acquire that capability. We pursued that. And as time progressed, we continued to clear hurdles in terms of Australia being potentially able to have that capability.
At the same time, we were working through in good faith with Naval to address the problems that we had in the contract. And it's no secret, I'm sure in Australia, that this was a project that had few friends, and that is a point that we had made to Naval and particularly to the French Government. But I appreciated the work that President Macron was doing to seek to solve those problems. And many of them were. And had we been in an ultimate position to go forward on that contract, then we still would have had issues. There were still things to resolve, but I'm confident we would have been able to resolve them. But it was our concerns over the early delays and the delivery on, particularly on things like Australian industry content, time and cost that had raised concerns in my mind. And after the 2019 election, I began to enquire into these issues and tasked Defence to give us options and alternatives in the event that circumstances prevailed that we wouldn't be able to proceed. This is a contract. It has gates in it, and the purpose of this contract was to deliver submarines to Australia that would suit our defence interests and our strategic defences. That's the point of this contract and that's what we were seeking to procure under this arrangement. Now, as we work through this process of enquiring into our nuclear capability and whether we could be able to move into that space, then we got to the point with the United States and the United Kingdom that we were able to elevate this to a political level discussion. And that is the context in which AUKUS was framed and born. And when we went to Carbis Bay and we had that historic trilateral meeting, it was at that meeting that we were now in a position to try and move forward to where we ultimately arrived at.
But I want to stress when we met in Carbis Bay, we had not at that point made a clear decision and neither had our trilateral partners about whether we would be absolutely proceeding with the nuclear submarine option, that was not a finalised arrangement between any of the trilateral parties, but one of the biggest things that had changed over the course of that year and previous was the change in the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific. At Carbis Bay and prior to it, President Macron had invited me to visit him at Elysee on the way to Carbis Bay. I chose not to do that. At that time, we hadn't settled the arrangements for the trilateral meeting that we had. Once that trilateral meeting was in place and pending the outcome of that, I agreed to go and have that dinner because I needed to share with him where Australia's thinking was. That was the reason I went to that dinner. To let him know after the meeting with the trilateral partners about where we were at, because only at that point had it then escalated to the possibility and likelihood of us potentially going down another track.
Now, at that point I made it very clear that a conventional diesel powered submarine was not going to meet Australia's strategic requirements. We discussed that candidly. I did not discuss what other alternatives we were looking at. They were in confidence and they were subject to the security arrangements we had about those other discussions. And it wasn't appropriate to do that, and I made that point. But what we did discuss was the issues that we were still dealing with, with the Attack class submarines. An important one of those was our view that this project would be further delayed and that would not see a submarine in the water until the late 2030s and possibly as late as 2038. That would mean that this submarine, when it went in the water would be obsolete almost the minute it got [inaudible]. Now, of course, Naval and others disputed whether that delay would actually occur, and President Macron undertook to look at that issue. After our dinner that night, the French defence system swung into full action and engaged in a full court press with all of our officials and others, including Defence Minister and others, addressing this issue around the contract. So their very response indicated that the discussion I had had with President Macron the night before, that night, and the briefing was provided back into the French system they swung into gear and began to raise issues. He said that he would like to send Admiral Morio out to Australia, which he did, to address the issues that we had raised. So that was very clear at that stage that they were responding to the issues that I had raised at our dinner.
At our dinner. I gave the opportunity for the French to respond to the matters that I had raised, and that process took place over the next few months. Now we eventually formed the view that we would agree to disagree, that the Attack class submarine would not meet our requirements. And we decided finally, only in the days before the announcement of the AUKUS arrangement and going forward with the arrangement on nuclear submarines was that decision finally made and that occurred at the same time that I could be assured that we had a clear path forward for a nuclear submarine. I was not going to leave Australia stranded between two projects. The two had to come together, and that's why we worked so closely and so securely over such a long time to ensure that we had a continuity of engaging and creating this capability for Australia. So we took the decision. It was a difficult decision. But a difficult decision that would lead undoubtedly to an impact on the relationship with France and, of course, an offence that would be caused. But in these interests, in Australia's interests, I have to put Australia's interests before any interest that involves in potentially offending others and how they would blowback in terms of their reaction. Australia's defence interests had to come first. This submarine was not the submarine Australia needed. The contract had had its difficulties that had led to me enquiring into potential other options, which for Australia's sake, actually came to fruition and we were able to secure nuclear submarine powered technology, that only two countries in the world possessed. That was worth pursuing for Australia, and I was not prepared to risk it for Australia's future defences. And that is why we took the decision that we did.
There was a three month period where the issues that had been raised were being discussed between French and Australian officials and the Naval Group, and we finally formed the view, made the decision we had to. There's no easy way to say to a contractor that you're going to not proceed through the next gate of the contract. Oh, I should remind you of this- We were supposed to have gone through the scope two works project gate in the previous December, and those marks were missed. And ironically, had that been achieved, then quite likely all of this would have been moot. That opened up a further opportunity to pursue our alternative, which I did in Australia's interests, and I make no apology for it because I need to ensure that Australia has the best submarine capability in one of the most complex parts of the world in the Indo-Pacific, and so Australia can pursue our defence strategies with the best possible capability. So based on all of that, we made, I believe, the right calls for Australia. I don't wish to personalise this. There's no element of that from my perspective. I must say that I think the statements that were made questioning Australia's integrity and the slurs that have been placed on Australia, not me, I've got broad shoulders. I can deal with that. But those slurs, I'm not going to cop sledging at Australia. I'm not going to cop that on behalf of Australians. I can deal with whatever people throw at me. But Australia has a proud record when it comes to our defence capability. That's why we will be building these. We'll be building others. And Australia’s service record, I think needs no elaboration. And so that's where we are. Happy to take questions. One at a time. Lanai, why don’t we start with Lanai and move around.
JOURNALIST: You said you're not going to accept the sledging of Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah.
JOURNALIST: So what are you going to do to resolve this diplomatic issue? Because there is a diplomatic issue here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia will happily work with France on projects of mutual interest. I think it's clear from President Macron's statements yesterday that the level of offence is still very great and we will wait for that to subside. We have a lot of projects to get on with. We have an important role in the Indo-Pacific. We are working with the EU, with NATO, of course, with our other partners in the region. We have much to do and we're always keen and would welcome the involvement of our ongoing partnership with France.
JOURNALIST: With all of that in mind Prime Minister, you've put all of that on the table you said you did, why did he say you lied to him? Is there any [inaudible], do you understand why he might have said that?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. I absolutely don't. But as I said, I don't seek to personalise this. I've made it very clear that we, that we believed absolutely that a conventional submarine was not going to meet our strategic needs. That's why I went to dinner in Elysee. To tell him that. Because that was the precise time, it was only a few days before that I had met with our trilateral partners. And I needed to convey to him very clearly that we had big concerns about that boat meeting our needs. He asked for the opportunity to discuss that further to address our issues. That opportunity was provided. It didn't convince us, and we did not believe we should go through the gate of that contract. This is about a contract to deliver submarines, and that contract had gates in it, which enabled Australia not to proceed if it was not in our interest to proceed. It was not in our interest to proceed. We communicated that. I had hoped to be able to do that directly by phone. We had sought such a call. And indeed, President Macron indicated he wasn't available at that time and was concerned that the nature of the call related to the contract and whether it would be proceeding or not. And he had communicated that to me several days before. I would have preferred to have said I told him directly. But that opportunity, that call wasn't offered.
JOURNALIST: Can you just clarify, when you had the dinner with Mr Macron and you relayed the concerns about the subs, you said you were looking at alternatives or just didn’t tell him what they were?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, no, he enquired about that, but I said I wasn't at liberty to discuss those.
JOURNALIST: But was her aware you were be looking at an alternative without going into detail?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. But I wasn't able to say, I mean, at that time, you'll remember, Phil, because many of your reporting it, I mean, there was discussion about what was happening with the Collins extension and a son of Collins. There were discussions happening with other defence contractors at the time, they were referred to in your own reports, I think, as Plan B options. I mean, when contracts had had the difficulty that we had, then of course it would be imprudent if I as Prime Minister, or the government, wasn't looking to identify alternatives. I just wasn't prepared to let Australia settle for less, if this contract wasn't going to proceed. I wanted Australia to have an even better capability. A supreme submarine capability. And that's what we have now been able to secure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said that you weren't able to communicate with the French President. But you were engaged in another discussion, can you be a bit more candid about why? Did the Americans ask us not to ...
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not going to get into that because they're all matters of our respective national security, so I'm not going to go into that. And, you know, leaders understand those things. We all understand there are security issues that apply constraints on what we can and can't discuss. But one point I made very clear on behalf of ultimately the partners, was that Australia initiated this. The United States and the United Kingdom did not come to us and seek to undermine the contract that the Naval Group had with Australia. They did not seek to do this. I was seeking an alternative in the event that a) we wouldn't be able to proceed and b) even more significantly if the conventional submarine option was not going to deliver on our strategic needs. Now we formed the very strong view, the unanimous view of all the Chiefs of our services and Defence Force, that this was a capability that was not going to meet our needs. We respectfully gave the opportunity for France to respond to that. If I, the suggestion that these things were not raised does not gel with the way the French defence system flew into action the next, very next day and other diplomatic engagements we understand were being pursued.
JOURNALIST: PM, you said quite clearly that you wanted to change this contract because the strategic circumstances for Australia had changed.
PRIME MINISTER: Correct.
JOURNALIST: We're now here at COP26. We've been at the G20. Russia and China are not here. Is that not a sign that the multilateral systems of the world are breaking down?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's very important for like minded countries to work as closely together as we possibly can. And that is why Australia will always remain committed to working with France when they are in a position to want to do that again with Australia. We will go forward and make some suggestions about ways that can be done. But it is clear from President Macron's statements yesterday that I don't think they are of a mind to do that at the moment. I understand that and we'll just get on with it and we'll move on.
JOURNALIST: Why didn't you message him back? So he sent you this message two days out from the AUKUS...
PRIME MINISTER: I did.
JOURNALIST: And what did you message back?
PRIME MINISTER: I said I thought it was very important that we spoke.
JOURNALIST: Which indicated in your mind that ...
PRIME MINISTER: And then when we weren't able to have an agreed time for a call because we had now got to the point we were about to announce this arrangement. And I wanted to tell him personally that we formed that decision because in correspondence as well as my own messages, I'd made it very clear that at the end of the day, Australia's national interest was going to determine our decision. And it did. And we communicated that. So when there wasn't the opportunity for us to speak directly, I forwarded the letter by text message to him that set out our position. And as you know, since then, I've written to him personally by hand and sought to move the issue forward. I understand that he's very personally upset and he's made some personal remarks. I don't intend to do the same.
JOURNALIST: Why was this decision to release the text message from him to you? I notice it has been leaked to the Daily Telegraph. James Morrow has it, it says should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions. Why did you decide to leak that text message? And can you confirm that Emmanuel Macron did offer to build nuclear submarines for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I can't specifically confirm that. But what I can say is that we don't have any interest in that option.
JOURNALIST: And on the first question?
PRIME MINISTER: I can confirm that ...
JOURNALIST: No, the first question was why did you, why did you...
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not going to, I'm not going to indulge your editorial on it. But what I'll simply say is this, is we were contacted when we were trying to set up the meeting, the call, and he made it pretty clear that he was concerned. He was concerned that this would be a phone call that would result in the decision of Australia not to proceed with the contract. And that happened several days before the decision was made. And so it was very clear that they were aware that the contract- I mean, Admiral Morio was sent to Australia to try and save the contract after our dinner in Elysee. So if there was no concern about the contract being under threat, Admiral Morio would never have come to Australia.
JOURNALIST: But Prime Minister, doesn't the text message exchange show that just a few days before AUKUS, Emmanuel Macron, a NATO power and a longstanding ally was still in the dark on the ultimate decision just two days before. Now, didn't Emmanuel Macron as such a strong ally of Australia and head of France deserve more than just that last minute notice of that ultimate decision?
PRIME MINISTER: Well this was a highly secure decision, a highly secure announcement over which we had held these things incredibly tightly. Not just for many months, but in Australia's case for more than a year. And it was my obligation to advise him of that directly. He was clearly aware over some months that there were concerns and they were responding to those concerns, and we had had correspondence and other messaging during the course of that period, and we decided in Australia's interests not to go ahead with the contract. That is what has occurred here. There was a contract, it had a gate. That gate should have actually been passed through last December. Delays in the contract meant that that didn't occur and that it extended out well into July. We had not made a decision which they would have been very well aware of, that we were not, you know, we had still not made a decision on that scope to works and and they were enquiring and they were seeking to respond to that.
But at the end of the day, I'm going to take the tough decisions to ensure Australia gets the best defence capability and you've got to have the strength to put up with the offence that sometimes that may cause. When you stand up for Australia's interests, not everybody is going to like it. It's not going to make everybody happy and you've got to have the strength to be able to deal with that. I'm very confident about the decision that I've made in Australia's interests, and we're going to pursue that decision as we are on many others, just like we're doing here in Glasgow, COP26 and ensuring the security of Australia in our region, in the Indo-Pacific, where Australia has stood up, my government has stood up, I've stood up and I will always do things in Australia's interests. Thanks everyone.
Press Conference - Rome, Italy
31 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, good evening, everyone. Australia is open. Australians are travelling again. Victoria has reached 80 per cent vaccination. Australia's opening up to Singapore, opening up to New Zealand. The National Plan is working. The Australian public have been keeping their side of the deal, which means the national plan is enabling them to regain the things that COVID has taken from them. We've been here over the last couple of days and indeed in the days ahead where we've been with more countries from around the world. It has highlighted to me once again that Australia's experience through COVID has been quite unique. The lowest fatality rates anywhere in the world from COVID. Our economy has performed strongly through COVID by comparison to so many, both advanced and developing countries, countries around the world. But thirdly, as our vaccination rates continue to rise, it just demonstrates that our response to COVID, ensuring that Australians can grab onto the things and reclaim the things that have been taken from them during the course of this pandemic. You look right across the pandemic, it continues to rage around the world. And that's why the vaccination programme we've discussed over the last few days remains so important because until the world itself is more broadly vaccinated, then the pandemic continues to rage, I was very pleased that over the course of the last couple of days while we were discussing, of course, some serious and significant issues of our responses to climate change and of course, the issues around the pandemic. The issues that we also raised, as a build up to next year around social media and digital platforms.
I raised that in my first intervention and then subsequently in many of the direct discussions I had with other leaders. This is not just something that Australians are experiencing. The harassment, the bullying, the misuse of these platforms shielding behind the anonymity of these digital media platforms, the lack of accountability when it comes to being a publisher. These are the same issues, whether I'm talking to those in Korea or in other parts of the world, in Indonesia. And so I was very pleased to see the communique today that this was recognised and understood. And when we talked about this, people and leaders had a very keen and deep appreciation of the impact this is having on mental health, particularly of young people and vulnerable members of their population. So having a work programme to go forward into next year, which will be led by Indonesia, we'll be supporting them strongly.
One of the things I discussed with President Widodo yesterday, and I'm just so pleased to see it picked up by so many others. When it comes to climate change, one of the things I think that was highlighted in my discussions here is that Australia has a deep understanding of the challenges being faced by developing countries and whether it's Indonesia, close by our dear friend and neighbour, the countries in the Pacific. But further across Southeast Asia, Australia because of our relationships, our economic relationships and you know, our involvement in our own region gives us a special insight, which says that, just like with vaccines, unless the whole world is vaccinated, then the pandemic continues to rage, the same is true when it comes to dealing with climate change. Unless the technologies are both affordable and scalable in developing countries, then you will not see emissions fall in those countries. It is not okay for developing countries to say, sorry for developed countries to say to developing countries that they somehow have to settle for less, that they can't have the same growth that their own economies and the jobs and the lifting of living standards that developed countries have been appreciating. And the way that is achieved for them is ensuring that we can get those technology costs as low as possible and so they can be taken up in developing countries and they can realise what they hope to achieve. I'm positive about this, so I'm optimistic about it, because 18 months ago there was no such thing as a COVID-19 vaccine. And in the space of less than two years, the world is now becoming vaccinated against a pandemic that we knew nothing about two years ago. And that just demonstrates that when the world focuses its investment in technology, science and research, that these answers are found and so the if and the when, those issues are no longer the issues, the only issue now is how, as we go to COP26. I hope that is the focus. The focus is on how we achieve that and how we achieve that is through ensuring that that technology is affordable and scalable. And if we hit those technology targets that are set out in the Australian way plan, then net zero by 2050, is something that not only Australia can achieve but so many other countries as well.
JOURNALIST: The reluctance expressed at the G20 on climate change on 2050 by the Russians and Chinese, the Indians for the watering down of the communique. Does that sort of kick the stuffing a bit in out of COP26 in terms of what we can expect from it in terms of meaningful progress.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think there will be progress. The destination, I think is understood and agreed. The world will move to a new energy economy. It will move to a decarbonised net zero economy. And the pace of that and the way that journey is, is travelled by countries will be different. In different countries they've got different, different challenges and they will find their different ways to that same destination. And to think that aspiring to that goal means that every single country has to get there the same way. I don't think that's realistic. And frankly, I think it's a bit naive.
JOURNALIST: But Prime Minister not at the same time either, like 2050 is what you've signed up to.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
JOURNALIST: But the big emitters aren't signing up for that. How much of a concern is that? That really weakens the COP26 result.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me speak to Australia's performance, and you've heard me say many times I'm going to tell you again. There are only four countries that sit around the G20 table that have a larger reduction in emissions since 2005 than Australia. Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. There's only one other country other than Australia, who has had a greater reduction in their emissions intensity, expressed as a percentage of their GDP. That's the United Kingdom. Australia ranks second in the G20. So we're getting it done, we’re 20 per cent more down already on our emissions and our path is going to be set by technology. The point I make, is that technology is the way that China can achieve it, India can achieve it, Indonesia can achieve it. The idea that we're going to take developing economy models and force them, sorry developed economy models and force them on developing economies and say this is the path you must travel, that is not going to work. The path we're setting out is to say let's get those technology costs as low as possible. Don't force up the cost of what they're currently using. That is only going to hurt the people who can afford it least. Our model, and I think this comes from a deep appreciation of the challenges faced by our own partners and friends in our own region, whether it's in Indonesia, or India, or Vietnam or places like this. They need this technology cheaper. Now, if we can produce a COVID vaccine in 18 months, we can achieve this as well. And when you achieve that, these countries will embrace it. Why wouldn' they?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, President Macron has told a couple of us around the corner that you didn’t …
PRIME MINISTER: A couple of you, sorry?
JOURNALIST: President Macron told a couple of us around the corner that you didn't tell him the truth on the subs deal. In fact, you said that you might have lied. Is that true?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: He said that what happened was detrimental to your reputation. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll always stand up for Australia's interests.
JOURNALIST: But he's also accused you. He says he doesn't think you lied to him, he knows you lied to him.
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t agree with that.
JOURNALIST: Has not not told you that to your face? You saw him today. You saw him yesterday. You just said to a to a camera, I don't think you lied to him. He knows you lied to him.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s not true.
JOURNALIST: What are you going to do to repair the relationship, because he said it was, he was pretty clear that you need to do something to repair the relationship?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve begun that process.
JOURNALIST: But he doesn't, he obviously doesn't feel that way.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there’ll be some time, I think, to go down this process. But we've begun it, we've spoken several times over the last couple of days. I'm sure we'll speak a bit more before I head back to Australia. But let me be very clear, the decision I've taken as Prime Minister, that my Government has taken, was in Australia's national interest. I don't resile from it for one second. These decisions are difficult. Of course, it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France. But I'm not going to put that interest higher than Australia's national interest, and I don't think any Australian would expect me to do the same - would expect me to surrender that interest for the sake of another. Now, we just wouldn't do that. Australians wouldn't expect me to do that. I've been very clear about the way I've communicated about this. We had dinner together. As I've said on numerous occasions, I explained very clearly that the conventional submarine option was not going to meet Australia's interests.
JOURNALIST: So, are you saying that he said that at the Élysée Palace - because that was in June - are you saying that over dinner, a private dinner, as I understand it, you told the French President that this deal was not going ahead. Is that what you said?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I didn't say that. I said the conventional submarines was not going to meet our strategic interests.
JOURNALIST: So, does that mean, did he offer a nuclear option?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to go into the discussion. That is all I have ever said. At that stage, we had not concluded any other arrangement with any other parties.
JOURNALIST: But doesn't this, doesn't this show that the diplomatic relationship is a lot worse than you think, he has accused you of lying?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm quite conscious of the disappointment that's there. And I'm not surprised - it was a significant contract. And so I'm not surprised about the level of disappointment.
JOURNALIST: You're going to have to see him at COP.
PRIME MINISTER: I've seen him several times today. You guys have seen him, you were getting selfies with him.
JOURNALIST: You’re going to have to continue to see him over the next couple of days. Will you be, you’re going to have to continue to see him over the next couple of days, will you be talking to him about the comments he said to people here?
PRIME MINISTER: No, look, I literally saw him about half an hour ago, just before, sorry, just before the last session I was in, and we exchanged pleasantries once more.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the submarine contract. First of all, we weren't taking selfies with President Macron. Second of all, when he talked about …
PRIME MINISTER: I must have been misinformed.
JOURNALIST: When he talked about the submarine contract, he expressed no confidence that there would be an outcome for Australia. He said, ‘good luck’.
PRIME MINISTER: On what, sorry?
JOURNALIST: On us getting nuclear submarines. He said, you've got an 18 month process. Good luck. The question then, is, how confident are you that out of this process, you'll have a nuclear submarine in the water by 2040?
PRIME MINISTER: That's exactly what our plan is.
JOURNALIST: How confident are you that that will come to pass?
PRIME MINISTER: I am confident.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you say that you’ve begun that process of, you know, figuring out where to next. Can you give us any detail about what that process is, what your thoughts are, and how you plan to actually move forward with France as a nation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will work together on projects of shared and mutual interest, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: But it doesn’t sound like he wants to work with you?
PRIME MINISTER: These things take time, these things take time.
JOURNALIST: So, did you, Prime Minister, just to be clear, in your discussions with President Macron, did you tell him at any stage you were considering exercising the gates - I think you have described, in the contracts - and getting out of it?
PRIME MINISTER: I was very clear that the conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests, and that we would need to make a decision in our national interest.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, that’s not the question, though.
PRIME MINISTER: But that’s my answer.
JOURNALIST: But it's now a very important matter, Prime Minister. You have a leader of a major European country accusing you of being a liar. That's an extraordinary allegation.
PRIME MINISTER: And I don't accept it.
JOURNALIST: And it's on the basis that you weren’t frank with him and you didn't tell him that you were considering exercising this exit clause in the contract. Did you or did you not?
PRIME MINISTER: I was very clear that what was going to be provided to us was not going to meet our strategic interests, and there was still a process we were engaged in, and we then engaged in, over the months that followed. And then we communicated to him our ultimate decision.
JOURNALIST: But did you indicate that you’d break the deal?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it was very clear. We all understood what the gates in the contract were and what then needed to be decided.
JOURNALIST: But you didn't, you hadn't told him that a new gate had opened, that Australia was …
PRIME MINISTER: Well, not until it had opened.
JOURNALIST: But but Australia, at that period, was also red hot in favour of a nuclear option, surely?
PRIME MINISTER: We were considering all our options, and the French Government was aware that other options were being considered …
JOURNALIST: Were you considering …
PRIME MINISTER: Because there was, because there was quite, that had been a fairly open process.
JOURNALIST: But no, but that, I don't think that they knew that we were considering a nuclear option.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that was a matter that was secure to Australia and our partners, so that was not a matter that I was going to engage in in any sort of broad conversation about. That would have been against Australia's national interests to do that. See, I want to be very clear. The ability for Australia to have now gained access to the most sought after defence technology in the world - there's only one other country that has it other than the United States, and that's the United Kingdom. This is not something that you go around having broad conversations about. Well, as you know, even within the Government this was incredibly tightly held. Why? Because the outcome for Australia was so incredibly important for our future security …
JOURNALIST: But France has …
PRIME MINISTER: No, let me finish. The Australian Government secured this, something that no previous government has been able to secure in 50 years, and this has well-positioned Australia to defend ourselves into the future. So I make no apologies for getting the right result from Australia. And we knew it would be a difficult decision …
JOURNALIST: No apologies…
PRIME MINISTER: … We knew it would be hard to work through that decision, once we had made it. It is not a small thing to not go through the gate on a contract of that size. But that's why you have gates in contracts. You have gates in contracts because you make decisions of that which whether you wish to proceed or not. But Australia decided not to proceed. That was our right. That decision was made in Australia's national interest. And I'm going to back Australia's national interest, and I know Australians are going to back Australians who back our national interest.
Press Conference - Rome, Italy
30 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: As I said yesterday, this is a very pivotal time. The pandemic is still raging and the economic recovery, particularly in the developed world, is really getting underway. And so it's important that we balance these challenges as we go forward. Today's session focused very much on health security and economic security. The points I was able to make focused firstly on health security that we need to keep fighting this pandemic and doing everything we can to protect against the next one. On fighting the pandemic, there is a very strong view about the need to lift the level of vaccination rates now amongst developing countries and the multilateralism, as Prime Minister Lee refers to it often, of vaccines. Now that's not just about getting doses, it's about getting the jabs literally in the arms and the process that is needed to achieve that and the distribution system and the training of people and the physical process of organising for those and then indeed the production of the vaccines themselves. And it was interesting to learn of the new facilities that have been set up in places like Africa. And of course, India is a major producer of vaccines. So the vaccine challenge was very much front of mind at the G20 today, and Australia was able to speak positively of the role that we're playing within the region, not just in our 130 million commitment to the COVAX facility and the more than $600 million that we've been spending in the region to ensure we're supporting those vaccination programmes being effective, but also the 60 million doses that we are rolling out across the region as our commitment through the Quad.
So then there is the challenge of protecting against the next pandemic and whether it was the 100 day mission that was raised at the G7 earlier this year or most importantly ensures, as I once again said, we need to know how this started so we can prepare and we can protect against the next pandemic. There is no agenda in that, it is just a very straightforward need that we have the best prepared world for a future pandemic. And there was again strong support for giving greater strength to the World Health Organisation to ensure that they have the capacity to be able to take stronger action, particularly at the onset of an outbreak. Often spoken of the need for an early warning system where countries have an obligation to put up their hands when they can see a serious communicable disease break out and then the world can respond and then it can respond to the production of vaccines and distribution. So there's a lot of focus today on how you can prepare and protect against a future pandemic and to draw the lessons from the one that we are still very much in.
On economic security, there are a number of points raised, but I had the opportunity to speak to the new secretary general of the WTO today and ensuring WTO is working, that the rules of global trade there, that they're being administered, they're being adhered to. There's a resurgence of global trade as we come out of the global recession, that has emanated from the pandemic and that the WTO was supported, whether it's in the appellate system or its other rules and the rulebook is fit for purpose, as we move into this next period. There was also a lot of concern, as I expressed, in ensuring that developing countries are not over overwhelmed by debt and the projects that they engage in are projects that help build their economy and particularly in the areas of the development of new clean technology supply chains. And we're able to talk, particularly this morning, to President Widodo about how he and I, Australia and Indonesia can work even more closely on those issues so we can support their industrialisation so their economic growth, but do so on the back of new clean energy processes and supply chains that of course, Australia is investing in under our low emissions technology roadmap. And so these were important issues that we focused on today.
The third area I raised today was on digital and ensuring that the digital world is a safe world for digital economy, but for our citizens. And I've had very good feedback on that and the fact that in Australia, there's great concern shared by the Government about the way digital planning platforms operate and the opportunity of how those platforms operate for people to engage in harassing, victimising behaviour. The G20 has already taken action on this. Several years ago in Osaka, where we pushed forward on that issue following the Christchurch massacre and then also builds on the work that needs to be done due to cyber attacks and ensure that the digital world is a safe world, both for commerce and for citizens. And this morning, President Widodo had the opportunity how that workstream can be further progressed next year under their G20 presidency. So these issues, whether it's keeping our kids safe in the digital world or ensuring that Australia can continue to be successful as a trading nation or thirdly to ensure that we're prepared for the next pandemic. These are the global issues where we have been focusing on that have a very, very real implications for Australia.
Now before I get to questions, I just want to say something very briefly about Australia's most beloved Bert Newton. Very sad to hear of his passing, Bert was someone who invited himself into the living rooms of Australians at a time when appointment viewing and we all used to watch the same thing at the same time, some will remember that. And he was such a welcome guest. And every time he came into our living rooms, we always looked forward to coming back. He had a great sense of humour, and he understood probably better than most self-deprecating humour, which is a real Australian trait. And he had it down to a tee. And I think that's what endeared him to so many Australians, whether it was Graham Kennedy or with Don Lane. I remember, you know, staying up late way past my bedtime to watch the Don Lane show and all those crazy skits they used to do. And they're still all there. And there are such fond memories. And in all his career, he was known as Moon Face, but he he shone brightly to Australia and we're going to really miss him. To Patti and to all the family, Australia loves you. Australia just loves you. We loved Bert. We're going to miss him dearly, but we're going to have so many great memories of him because they were all captured on film over such a long period of time. The family will be in mourning and as indeed, I think Australians are.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, President Biden said that the French aspect of the submarine deal was handled in a clumsy way and not with a lot of grace. Did he throw you under the bus?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia made the right decision in our interests to ensure we have the right submarine capability to deal with our strategic interests. It's never an easy way for us, I think, to get to a point where we had to disappoint a good friend and partner in France that we wouldn't be proceeding with that country, but that was always a difficult decision for Australia. It was the right decision for Australia. We work closely with the United States and United Kingdom and we take them up to date, the administration with where we're at in our various discussions with France. Had the opportunity to see President Macron today, and we exchanged our greetings and shook hands and that follows the conversation we had yesterday. So we're on the road back there and looking forward to catching up with him again over the next four days at the various events.
JOURNALIST: But Prime Minister, he is calling you clumsy and without grace. Isn't that the implication of what Joe Biden is saying?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: So what did you say to Emmanuel Macron today?
PRIME MINISTER: I said g'day. I said g'day. At these events that, he was having a chat with someone. I went up and just put my arm on his shoulder, I said g'day Emmanuel and look forward to catching up over the next couple of days, which I assure you, that's the way these things work. And he was happy to exchange those greetings, and we've known each other for a while. But you know, it's just the process of of being on the road back.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, it's very clear that Joe Biden is doing everything he can to heal that that hurt with Emmanuel Macron. But when it comes to what the French President might want of you. Are you any clearer because he obviously wants to extract something from this calamity as he sees it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not about that. What it's about is just two like minded countries who have a lot of shared interests, following us not proceeding with that contract and finding those projects we will now work together on. And that's how Australia sees it. I mean, France will pursue its interests and we'll pursue ours and there's a great deal of overlap between those two things. And so it's not surprising that there's a significant degree of disappointment about these events. That's not surprising. And we're very understanding of that and it'll take a bit of time. But the fact is, the overwhelming interest of both countries is that we continue to go forward on so many other projects. I mean, we discussed the other night quite a number of projects which were already doing. But if there are things that we can add to that, I look forward to doing that. One of those, is particularly these issues around social media. Now this is an issue which is [inaudible] to Paris and France. And I just had a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister. And they are also very concerned about this. After making those comments on social media about the social media issues and digital platforms, the Argentinian President sitting next to me lent over and grabbed me by the arm, he has that challenge too …
JOURNALIST: We are talking about a significant, very significant European nuclear power that is deeply annoyed with you, with your government. You must have some understanding of the strategic ask that they are presenting of you and the Americans.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have a clear eyed view about how we will continue to work with the French Government. And our interests, as I say, greatly overlap. Let me be really clear. Australia has made the right decision when it comes to our defence interests in going forward with a nuclear propelled submarine capability and doing that in partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom. That's the right decision for Australia. Of course, it's a difficult decision. We were very aware that that would lead to some deep disappointment. But you've got to make the right decision for Australia. And that's exactly what we did and we don't recall from it at all.
JOURNALIST: Are you surprised by Joe Biden's comments, given that you said the White House knew what, what every step of the way, I think you said essentially the US and the UK, are you surprised by what he said?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, he's had a candid conversation with the French President and I'll leave his remarks to him.
JOURNALIST: Did Boris Johnson bring it up with you today in your own bilateral?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course. I mean, AUKUS is partnership between the three countries ...
JOURNALIST: But specifically about Emmanuel Macron and what's going on?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at any great length [inaudible], those issues will take managing.
JOURNALIST: On your intervention regarding the WHO, you said you got some support from world leaders about it. What about specifically on your call to make it more transparent and more independent, do you get the sense that leading that meeting, that world leaders the as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I do. And, I mean, we all expressed it in different ways. I mean, there's been a good discussion happening for some time now about a pandemic treaty, which basically goes to the same issue, [inaudible] things that I've actually been talking about, so whether it comes together in that form, or as the World Health Assembly comes together and reforms that can be pursued through the WHO, the financing issues that are being talked about leading up to the World Bank. All of these things work together to say that the next time you face a pandemic, there will need to be stronger arrangements in place, a) to understand what's happening at the minimum and then to be able to respond more effectively, particularly in vaccine development and distribution. That said, when you think of the past 18 months and you think about the fact that there was even no conception of a vaccine and now here at this Summit, we're focusing on a 70 per cent vaccination rate globally by the end of June next year. That's a bold target, but I think that says a great deal about what's been achieved in terms of [inaudible].
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Mr Biden seems to be saying that he was, he either misunderstood your communications with the French before the announcement of AUKUS, or he was mislead. Which is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, all I can say is that we kept the US Administration up to date with the status of our conversations and discussions had been with the French Government.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the officials did not tell him?
PRIME MINISTER: All I can say is what I've said.
JOURNALIST: Did you ask for a bilateral with Emmanuel Macron in the lead up to this? And are you disappointed it was a phone call instead of a face-to-face meeting?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we didn't, because we understood that the relationship is one that's on the way back, and we're patient and the timing of that, I think was right to have a phone conversation. As you know, I wrote personally to the President setting out where I saw the issues and how I thought we could take it forward. I was very pleased that led to a phone conversation before we headed here, and we had a very pleasant and friendly exchange today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is obviously a good mate of yours, you've spoken to him this afternoon. Pretty important that Prime Minister Johnson emerges from the G20 with a strong statement in terms of climate action, ahead of the COP, it's a pretty important [inaudible]. What's Prime Minister Johnson's view on Australia's position on the coal language of the communique?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I mean, he is warmly welcomed our position on net zero by 2050 ...
JOURNALIST: No, but on the coal language?
PRIME MINISTER: Well those matters have been worked through, through the sherpers and through the communique. There's quite a large group of nations that are, hold similar concerns about this. So we'll see what that lands in the next day or so.
JOURNALIST: But it's problematic for Prime Minister Johnson isn't it, in the lead up to COP to emerge to basically ...
PRIME MINISTER: The G20, I mean the G20 is comprised of nations that are all coming from very different places. And to suggest there's always, you know, a consensus and commonality of view on those things right across 20 countries, that's a pretty big assumption.
JOURNALIST: What about on your end, because there's this debate about the communique language on net zero. You've made a commitment to net zero by 2050. Do you think that the G20 as a group could set that as an ambition in its communique tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'd simply say that the Australian has made its position very clear. But, you know, we have always taken the view that we'll speak for ourselves. We're not in the business of telling other countries what they should be doing and other countries have different challenges. And I had a very, very positive meeting today with President Widodo. It was great. The last opportunity we both had to see each other was when he was in Australia, and we recalled that rather interesting afternoon we had in the Governor-General's golf cart going around looking at kangaroos at Yarralumla, which he enjoyed very, very much. And so I'm looking forward to being up in Indonesia next year. He invited me. So their challenges there, I think will be very much realised and addressed through the technology programme that we're pursuing. And there is quite a strong view, I think emerging that technology is what is going to solve this problem. And you've heard me make the comparison before that. The world didn't need a summit to develop a vaccine in response to COVID, the world didn't need a summit to actually ensure we went from analogue to digital and we're still dealing with that. That is the nature of the change that we need to see occur here over the next 30 years to achieve net zero by 2050. And so the technological advancement, ensuring we get this by driving the cost of that down and ensure that is completely scalable, particularly in developing countries. That is what solves the climate challenge and that is the path that Australia is on. That is the Australian way. And I think the Australian way has a lot of appeal to countries like Indonesia and Vietnam and other developing countries that want to realise their economic opportunities, their jobs and do it in a way that is consistent with ultimately a net zero goal, and that's how I see it going forward, that's the point I'm going to continually make both here and in Glasgow, and we'll take it from there. But technology is really the hope of the side. It really is because as I say, not taxes and not regulation. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Rome, Italy
29 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: The G20 meeting in person. This is very important. The first opportunity we've had to do this since we all met back in Osaka. And so the opportunity for us to come here at a pivotal time, the world's largest economies, to be focusing on the road ahead. Now that road ahead is still one where the global pandemic is still raging and particularly in the developing countries of the world. And Australia is moving towards one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, joining others, particularly in Europe and North America. The rest of the world, particularly in developing countries, still have very low rates of vaccination. Now Australia, we're doing our bit as part of that, particularly in our own region, particularly in the Pacific Island Forum and our family there. But as well as out throughout Southeast Asia, which was an opportunity I had just recently to address the East Asia Summit to reinforce the 60 million doses that we'll be getting out around as part of our initiatives through the Quad throughout the region.
But the economy is going to continue to change as the pandemic changes. The economic response has been very clear and our economies are now starting to emerge and indeed the Australian economy as well, particularly this quarter, with the scenes in Melbourne as people rushing back to retail shops in Melbourne. It's just another sign that the national plan is opening up our economy as our vaccination rates rise and Australians start reclaiming the things that COVID has taken from them. But around the world, that remains a very big challenge, and I know that will be a key focus of our discussions here in Italy, in Rome over the next couple of days.
In addition to that, there's also the build up to Glasgow. And of course, those issues will be discussed here and that Australia's commitment for net zero by 2050, as you well know, is a significant commitment from Australia, and I'm looking forward to updating other leaders on our plans and programmes, particularly on our keenness to work with other countries on those technology breakthroughs that frankly, when you're talking about hitting net zero emissions, it's the same sort of challenge the world faced when you're looking for a vaccine, a vaccine to end the pandemic. It's only through those solutions that all around the world will ultimately address this very big challenge.
But there are many other issues as well. When we were in a Osaka, we had the Osaka declaration. That followed the Christchurch massacre, and that was about bringing the world together to put the pressure on the big digital platforms to ensure that they were not being used as a weapon by terrorists. But we know these risks exist beyond the threats of terrorism. We know the threats that come from digital platforms, which have many positive utilities, but at the same time can be a tool that is used by those looking to to harass and bully and cause great harm to others, not just in Australia, but all around the world. We can't have a digital world that plays by different rules to the real world, and that is really our challenge as countries to set out really what our expectations are of digital platforms to ensure that they are providing a safe environment for those who are using them to engage, to enjoy the many benefits of those platforms. Whether it's our children or particularly women who could be the subject of harassment and abuse on these platforms, it's not good enough for them to operate on different rules. Ensuring that we have digital platforms that understand their roles as publishers and do not provide a shield for anonymity for people to go and just go out and impact on others lives. Anyway, happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, China's President Xi Jinping is not going to be at this conference. He's not going to be Glasgow. What do you think it says that an important global economy like China is not at these conferences?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if we're to address climate change globally, which is the challenge, no single country acting on its own can impact on that overall outcome, particularly Australia. And it is true that China, the biggest emitter in the world and their emissions, will continue to rise to 2030. And it is important that we get these global technology solutions that can work as well in China and India and Vietnam as they do in Australia and Europe and the United States. This is why Australia, the Australian way to achieving net zero emissions, I think, is a way that all countries could embrace because it's about getting technology solutions at scale and affordable cost, because that's what history tells us always makes the change.
JOURNALIST: Just on the phone call with President Macron. What did you make of the timing of the call? It sounded like a tense call, and when he asked for something tangible in his statement, what do you think that is?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I welcome the call, firstly. As I've written personally to President Macron and set out our keenness to to find a way forward following the obvious disappointment which we respect and understand. And so I very much appreciate the fact that he reached out to have that personal call, which we had last night before I joined you all on the flight here. And so we started the way back. I think that's a positive thing. Of course, there'll be candid conversations at the start as we as we deal with the issues as they presented. But Australia and France have so many shared interests, apart from being longstanding liberal democracies who share values and beliefs. Our interests are shared in the Indo-Pacific, and the way you build back those relationships is you work together on the things that matter to us both and the Indo-Pacific policies on our oceans, our policies on technology, particularly moving towards a net zero economy out to 2050. All of these are shared interests where I think we have a great opportunity to work together. Antarctica is another key one of those where we share an interest. And Australia is a highly reputable operator there, and I know France equally has their interests there so we can work together on all of this. So I'm quite positive about it.
JOURNALIST: On climate Mr Morrison, as Lanai said, the Chinese aren't coming. The Indians have said they're not going to do net zero by 2050. Russia is not turning up. Joe Biden apparently [inaudible] a bit of is his package through the Congress, just as he came. Do you think there's a risk that Glasgow might end up a bit of a damp squib?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it all depends on what your expectations are. What I know is we'll just keep taking steps forward. That's what this is about. Australia's taking steps forward. We're taking strong steps forward. Our emissions are down by over 20 per cent. By 2030, we anticipate they'll be down by 35 percent. So we're all taking steps forward. And I think this is a good opportunity to align and discuss what our various plans are, learn from each other, but in particular work together to ensure that we keep moving forward to this very important goal.
JOURNALIST: Will you be meeting on the sidelines with Mathias Cormann at all, and what do you make of his calls for a stricter carbon price globally? Are you shocked by that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I look forward to meeting with the Secretary-General of the OECD over the course of the next little while, and he's there to represent the broader views of all the various members of the OECD there. He's not there representing Australia's interests. That's my job. And so I'm sure we'll have a good opportunity to discuss what he's been, what he's been raising in his role as the OECD, but that's his job now. He's focused on the policies and the measures that are considered within the forums of the OECD. It's my job to represent Australia's national interest, and I'm sure he has a deep understanding and appreciation of it.
JOURNALIST: Back on President Macron, he said that Australia's commitment should be commensurate with the climate risk, and he says that Australia should stop the consumption and production of coal both domestically and internationally. This is our second biggest export. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I raised it, advised President Macron on the fact that we've reached this point in Australia, where I simply would now be able to commit to a target of net zero by 2050. They are issues that he and I have discussed in the past and I was pleased to be able to report that progress. But our policy is very clear. We are not engaged in those sort of mandates and bans. That's not the Australian Government's policy, it won't be the Australian Government's policy. All countries are coming at this task from different places, their economies are different. And as a global community, we've got to understand that. Developing countries have different challenges to those in Europe. Indeed, Australia's economy in the shape and form of our economy is very different to many of those as well. So we'll all get on this path. That's what we're doing. But we've always got to make our own path, and the Australian way is our path and that's what I'm here to talk about and and be faithful to.
JOURNALIST: PM, with China and Russia not being here and also not going to COP, are you concerned that the strategic competition that's going on, that the world's becoming more divided and making it more difficult to continue to face global challenges?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why I think events like the G20 and as many as those who can be here in person, I understand that particularly China will still participate in the G20. Not many Chinese officials leaders have been travelling, so that is not a great surprise, I must say. Premier Li Keqiang was on the East Asia Summit the other night, and he had his contribution. So they're engaging in those forums, indeed, as they'll with this one. COP26 has another very separate rule and respect that. That's why I'm here in terms of the rules that are set out for an in person attendance, and I'm very pleased to be here for that. But that's why I think the G20 is such a useful and practical forum. Anyone who thinks that at all times there is a complete consensus agreement amongst 20 countries of this size with very different populations, many different political systems and many different economic economies, I think that would be an accurate assessment, so this is a good opportunity to focus in on some of the priorities. And as I said on something like social media where it doesn't matter what country, those digital platforms are having massive impact on those societies, and we need to ensure that the rules that we all apply differently in our own countries in the real world apply in the digital world and that we don't allow those digital platforms to be used as tools, weapons for others to oppress and coerce and harass people. And we're going to have to stop that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you expect to cop any flak at all for not a stronger medium term target? And what do you think of Boris Johnson's comments being pessimistic about what will come out of the COP26?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wish Boris well the best for this COP26. He chaired a magnificent G7 Plus at Carbis Bay earlier this year, which I attended. And you know, Boris is really good at these events and trying to get people to focus on what's most important. I'm sure he will do everything he can to get the best possible outcome here, but one that respects the different views and starting points and where people are at in the journey. I think that's a very important point. And so I'm looking forward to discussions over the next few days. But Australian policy is very clear. Our interests are determined in the policies that we've set out, they're designed for Australia and our way forward. Australian jobs, the livelihoods of people in rural and regional areas in particular. We've made a lot of great progress in the announcements we've made on net zero by 2050 is a significant shift forward for Australia and for our government. I'm pleased that I've been able to bring the government together to do that. And so I can come here with that with that clear statement and to ensure that we're moving forward on what is a very important issue.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you'll see President Macron both at G20 and COP. Do you envisage having a bilateral with him or a pull aside or something formal or informal engagement. And also if I may, Reuters has draft copy of the G20 communique, which contains some strong language on the phasing out of fossil fuels. What will Australia's position be in relation to that aspect?
PRIME MINISTER: Every time you come to these events, there's all sorts of bits of paper that's flying around well before, and I'm sure the final communique will be worked through over the next few days and Australia's policy on these issues are crystal clear, and you can expect the Australian Government here, whether it's in Rome or whether it's in Glasgow, myself as Prime Minister, to be always putting Australia's national interest first and ensuring that they are the views that are represented here on behalf of Australia. Thanks everyone.
Address, Daily Telegraph Bush Summit
29 October 2021
Prime Minister: G’day, everyone. It’s great to be with you again. Wherever you are joining us, I acknowledge our traditional owners. 60,000 years of contending, reckoning and understanding the wonders and challenges of this continent. I pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
I also acknowledge the service men and women of our country, and the veterans who have served - so many of whom are drawn from our rural and regional communities.
The soul and character of our country is drawn from rural and regional Australia.
More than our identity, it is a critical part of our economy and our day to day lives.
We’ve seen this during the pandemic.
You kept the food on the tables.
You kept the supply lines open.
And you kept the resources coming out of the ground, the exports on ships - and you kept the country going.
You had the country’s back.
And I want you to know that my government has yours.
We had your back during the drought.
We’ve had your back as you’ve faced the fires and floods and calamities of recent years.
And we’ll have your back as the world transitions to the new energy economy.
So it’s great that we have this Summit again.
I want to thank Ben English and everyone at the Tele for getting us all together again for another year.
I know the Deputy Prime Minister will also be speaking and he will outline the Government’s investment in water and infrastructure to support regional Australia, so I’ll leave that to him.
A lot has changed since the last Summit in Cooma.
And how good it is that there’s been some rain!
Murray-Darling Basin storages are at 89 per cent and this is driving record production.
Areas across the country that were struggling with drought have then had to deal with floods, especially in NSW and Queensland.
Nature is a force, certainly, to be reckoned with but we’ve shown that this Government is always here to help you get back up, to clean up, to get up and doing what you do best.
The value of farm production is forecast to reach a record $73 billion this year. We’re well on the way to supporting the industry to reach its goal of $100 billion by 2030.
COVID might have stopped us from gathering this time, but I tell you what, that won’t be the case for much longer!
And I want to thank regional Australia - not only for getting the jab and playing your part in the extraordinary national effort on vaccines, but for your work during the pandemic more broadly.
You’ve adapted, you’ve got on with the job.
You know, all of us have learned many things during this pandemic.
Again and again, I’ve heard people say one thing - it is, “we worked out what’s most important.”
In our personal priorities, in our families, and our communities.
And we’ve seen that in the economy as well.
What’s important? Jobs.
Being competitive.
Keeping costs down.
Being able to adapt to the changes that are going around us.
All around us, the world is changing.
As you know, I am on the way to Glasgow where I’ll share Australia’s pathway to a low-emissions future.
I want to speak about that today.
To explain our pathway to net zero emissions by 2050, and what it means for you, for your jobs, for your communities.
Our plan is to deliver on our target of net zero by 2050.
It’s a serious plan.
It’s not something that we’ve doing lightly.
And we’re not starting from a zero base.
Because as a nation we have already achieved a 20% reduction in our emissions, mostly due to the heavy lifting done by our agricultural sector.
That contribution hasn’t gone unnoticed, I assure you, or unrecognised and I want to thank you for the hard yards already taken.
I also want to thank the National Farmers’ Federation and peak industries bodies like Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Pork Limited for their leadership in supporting a reduction in the carbon footprint of the sector.
We are backing you all the way, including through significant investment in research and development.
I want to assure you that our plan for net zero doesn’t force our farmers to do anything more that what you’re already doing and will choose to do in the future.
And we won’t be asking the states and territories to use their powers, under our plan for 2050, to regulate the way you use your land.
We trust you as being the best stewards of your land.
Our Government wants Australian farmers to be able to choose how they use their land to get the highest and best outcomes.
Our plan for net zero supports farmers to take advantage of new markets, including carbon markets.
And we’ve got a detailed plan, based on the best economic modelling and analysis, done by the Government’s departments, the Department of Industry, Energy and Resources, that sets out how, not just the why or when.
How we do the right thing by jobs, in particular how we grow regional jobs.
How we do the right thing by the environment.
How we develop and deploy new technologies.
How we strengthen our rural and regional communities through the global transition to a new energy economy.
To me - and I know for you - the how really matters.
I want you to know, so you can be certain our plan won’t put jobs or industries at risk.
It won’t reduce the competitiveness of our exports, including our agricultural exports.
It is about ensuring that we’re not leaving people behind, but we’re going forward strongly together.
What our plan does is deal with both the costs and the benefits.
It puts regional communities at the heart of the opportunities that are real and that are there.
Our plan - the Australian Way - will continue to reduce emissions while keeping our economy growing, ensuring reliable energy and ensuring our regions, importantly, remain strong.
In the plan, you’ll see our approach takes a technology-driven focus.
Technology, not taxes.
Building on work we are already doing.
Work that will see the Australian agriculture sector grow to $100 billion by 2030.
With up to 100,000 new jobs by 2050 in hydrogen, renewable energy, green iron and alumina, and critical minerals.
And the majority of those jobs will be in regional Australia.
Under our plan the Government will not close one mine, one factory or one power plant or change the way farmers manage their land.
Not one thing in our plan that we have set out does any of those things.
But we all know, there will be regional communities that face more challenging transitions because of where the world is heading.
We are not blind to that, and we know you’re not either.
The world is changing, and we need to respond and adapt, and put ourselves in the strongest possible position to be successful, just as you’re seeking to do.
But those transitions, they’ll unfold gradually and predictably.
We’re not forcing them, giving us ample opportunity to make the long-term investments necessary to achieve a smooth shift to the industries and jobs that will be there in the future, not just today.
Clean hydrogen, energy storage, even lower cost solar, low emissions steel and aluminium - and much more, will see Australians benefit from global energy transition that is already under way, and we can’t pretend is not occuring.
I am determined that the gains will outweigh the costs.
Knowing what’s truly important: jobs, more affordable power, lower emissions, and an Australia that is competitive.
Importantly we will bring on major new investments in our regions to support:
New energy generation - as we decarbonise and electrify our economy.
We aren’t afraid of power - or hold our noses when it comes to power generation. Our goal is to expand the power sector with a large roll out of new renewable and Carbon Capture and Storage projects.
Projects that will be foundational to the continued growth of the Australian economy.
We are investing and will invest further in Hydrogen - creating a major new industry providing hydrogen both for exports and for domestic use.
These projects will become major regional energy, industry and jobs centred on areas like Gladstone, the Hunter, Darwin, the Pilbara, Whyalla and the Upper Spencer Gulf.
You are going to hear a lot about critical minerals in coming years as well.
Australia will be a world leader - mining and processing rare earths and minerals such as nickel and copper, it’ll boom in order to supply clean energy and new technologies the world over.
And we will be investing in more productive farming - unlocking productivity in our pasture and cropping lands creating incentives to boost solid carbon.
Under our five technology stretch goals we’re aiming to get soil carbon measurement from over $30 a hectare to under $3 per hectare.
That’s the transformation that achieves the positive change.
Australia has untapped potential as a globally significant source of carbon sequestration in our soils.
Getting carbon measurements costs down will provide our farmers with a valuable additional revenue stream.
And increasing soil carbon concentration can improve farm productivity and crop yields.
That’s why it’s important for agriculture to be part of the plan, to be part of the future with where we’re heading with our low emissions technologies.
Our National Soils Strategy, backed with over $228 million in investment, is aimed at helping farmers care for our land and soils.
For example, we’re investing in:
a National Soils Minoring and Incentive Pilot program to improve our understanding of the condition of our soils; and
a National Soil Science Challenge to help address gaps in soil knowledge
We want our farmers to be rewarded for their efforts and their innovation.
That’s why, through the leadership of Minister Littleproud, we are delivering the $66 million Agriculture Stewardship Package.
As part of this, we’re trialling the Carbon + Biodiversity Program, a market-based mechanism aimed at rewarding farmers for increasing biodiversity while also sequestering carbon and receiving payments under the ERF.
Today, you will hear that both sides of politics are saying they can achieve net zero by 2050, or at least setting that target.
But I want to be clear: only the Liberals and Nationals, only the Coalition actually has a plan and having no plan puts future wellbeing at risk.
It’s a blank cheque.
Labor won’t say how they’ll get there. In fact, they’ve be highly critical of our technology not taxes plan.
I’ll tell you, if you’re not getting there by technology, then the way they’ll seek to get there is by punishing through taxes, punishing industries they don’t like, making the false choices of those who don’t live in rural and regional areas, and imposing those costs on those in the bush.
It’ll come with greater regulation and mandates, telling you what to do in rural and regional Australia.
We don’t share that view.
We believe that in the bush people are making their own choices now. They’re taking their own actions, they’re moving forward, they’re making decisions. They’re actually part of this process already, that has already seen our emissions come down by more than 20% and our economy grow by 45%.
You’re already doing it, and we just want to back you in to do it.
We don’t want to tax you to do it.
We don’t want to put restrictions on you.
We don’t want to put new laws on you and legislate you.
We just want to get on with it, and enable the technological changes that you’ve always known.
You’ve always know that the science and technology are what happens on your property, in your manufacturing industries, in the regional towns and centres all across the country, in the mines, in the transport sector, on the roads.
All of that, you’re already doing. And we want to back you in.
That’s why I believe you can be confident that the Coalition understands regional Australia and rural Australia, understands its place in our country - and in our economy.
Of course we’ve wrestled with this. But we feel this in our bones.
There’s an outlook, an ethos, a way of life, that is part of rural and regional Australia.
And I promise, we will always serve to protect it - and we will promote it and celebrate it.
Because we get it.
We instinctively understand how intrinsic the way of life is in rural and regional Australia to who we all are as Australians.
So I want to be very clear: Only the Coalition has a plan, and will stand up and be strong to ensure that we keep Australia strong, our economy strong, our rural and regional areas strong.
A plan that keeps those regions moving forward.
A plan that is strong for more affordable power.
And we’ll stand up to those who will seek to want to shut things down, stand up to those who’ll want to shut you down.
We have a plan that enables us to go through that together, and ensure that we don’t have to have those punishing mandates and regulation and taxes that others think are the answer.
We don’t think that’s the answer, we think you are.
And a plan that involves you at its centre, is a plan that delivers net zero by 2050.
Not taking jobs - certainly not in farming, and not in mining or gas. That has a strong future.
Ours is a uniquely Australian plan: an energy, trade and economic plan, not just an environmental one.
It focuses on our national interests, and keeps our traditional advantages in the regions.
That’s what we are working towards.
So I want to thank you all again for coming together with the Tele for this important Bush Summit.
I wish you all the very best for your discussions.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, and we couldn’t all be there in person once again, but I’m looking forward to that opportunity down the road.
So thanks again everyone, and I’m pleased I’ve been able to share these views and updates with you. And I’m sure you’ll be looking forward to hearing from Barnaby shortly and through the course of the Summit.
Thanks everyone, all the best.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
28 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone. I’m joined by the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the Chief Medical Officer. Australians are taking their lives back from what COVID took from them. And this is positive news. And as we go into the weeks ahead, we will continue to see positive changes happening all around our country. We’re beating COVID and we’re taking our lives back. And we're doing this as we see the vaccination levels in our country rise and rise. We are beating the models, the models that have instructed us along the way and set out the path that may occur, whether it's on the impact on our hospital system and the way that things are playing out - we’ve prepared for the worst but we always plan also for the best, and we’re seeing more of the latter than the former.
But, that said, that does not mean that difficult days are still not before us. And that is particularly true for the family and friends of loved ones, particularly in Victoria today, where we've had 25 deaths, and two in Sydney. And, once again, we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to all the families and friends of those who’ve fallen victim to COVID. It is a sobering reminder of the terrible reality of this pandemic. And that that reality is still visited upon us here in Australia, despite the progress we’re making.
But our best defence against all of that has been the vaccination program, and today, three quarters of Australians have now been double dosed vaccinated. That is an extraordinary achievement by Australians all around the country, led particularly in New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT where those rates now, particularly on first doses, as I said yesterday, is higher for Australia than now even the United Kingdom. So Australians are doing what their part of the deal was, and we’re keeping our part of the deal, because from Monday, fully vaxxed Australians, we will see them being able to travel overseas from next Monday. In New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT, they will be open. Australia is connecting together again.
And I can tell you, no one is happier about that than me as Prime Minister to see that occurring, and we're going to continue to see that occurring in the months ahead, and substantially before Christmas, as all states and territories have been outlining that plan, obviously with the exception of WA, before
the end of this year. So, I welcome that.
Regional travel returns, interstate travel returns and international travel returns, happening across all of those jurisdictions. That means families reuniting together. It means business travellers being able to get on planes and connecting again and getting our economy moving, as our economy is one of- been one of the best performing around the world when it comes to COVID-19. Not only have we had the lowest fatality rates in the world, amongst those of the lowest in the world, but we’ve had the strongest economy - one of them, advanced economies coming through this COVID pandemic - and now we are on track to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, which means that we are able to open up Australia, in accordance with the National Plan.
Now, an important part of that is moving forward with the booster program. And that booster program will commence on November 8. And I’ll ask the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the CMO to take you through a few more of those details, but they’re on November the eighth, that process will begin again. Jane Malysiak and I and the CMO will be heading off soon thereafter to be able to ensure that we have those boosters.
Those booster programs will obviously, will have a focus, especially on aged care and health workers, but it is an all of, whole of population booster program. And there are enough vaccines to do it. In fact, as JJ Frewen, General Frewen, announced only the other day, there is enough vaccines right now here in Australia to ensure that everybody who wants one, to get both single and double vaxxed, can have one.
So, it’s over to the rest of Australia. Wherever you are, there are enough vaccines here to ensure that we can be hitting those 80 per cent marks, which we expect to achieve next week, and to ensure that in Queensland and WA, in particular, there are enough doses there for those 80 per cent and 70 per cent marks to be achieved right now. So, I encourage people to take up that challenge and go out and get those doses.
I’d make one other point before I pass over to Greg, and that is, obviously tonight I’ll be heading off to the G20 Leaders’ Summit, as well as the COP26 in Glasgow. The world is reaching what I think is a critical point in our health and economic recovery from COVID, and that will be a key focus of the discussions that I know we'll be having there. The multilateralism of vaccines and the 60 million doses that Australia has already committed, and I was speaking about these last night as part of the East Asia Summit which I participated in.
I also note that yesterday, in our meeting of the first ever Australia-ASEAN ongoing annual dialogue, that we achieved a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership - that is an elevation to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership level relationship with ASEAN. Now, that is the first such partnership ASEAN has entered into with any country in the world. Such is the closeness of our relationship with our friends and partners here in South East Asia that ASEAN has selected Australia to be their first Comprehensive Strategic Partner. And no doubt, there will be others. But our longstanding relationship with our ASEAN partners, I think, has been recognised in that being able to be achieved yesterday, and I thank particularly Minister Payne for all the tremendous work that she has done on that task.
And, so, whether it's in summits like that or others, this issue of reaching that critical point on our health and economic recovery from COVID will be a keen focus for discussion amongst G20 leaders, and ensuring there’s equitable and safe access to effective vaccines.
Another key issue that I'll be raising, though, will be that we need to fully harness the benefits of digitalisation. But, in doing that, making sure the rules that apply in the real world apply in the digital world. I will continue to press, as Australia always has, and show the leadership on this issue globally that we must hold social media platforms to account. They’re publishers, not just platforms, and particularly when they allow people to anonymously go on their platforms and publish their vile rubbish, whether that is to bully a young girl or target people online or to push defamatory statements out against people, and to do so anonymously with impunity - that’s not freedom of speech, that’s just cowardice, and we cannot have that thrown up on our social media platforms to Australians in this country.
It's not just a problem here in Australia, it's a problem all around the world. We led the charge, together with New Zealand and France, after the Christchurch massacre, and I took that to the G20 in Osaka and we achieved a Global Leaders' Statement that has followed through with real action to ensure that the Internet, and particular social media platforms, are not used as a weapon by terrorists. But, they’re still being used as a weapon right now, destroying the mental health of our young people, destroying lives, and it's just not on in this country.
The online privacy draft legislation that we've already released, and people are aware of that today, that builds on so many of the other things we've already done to, on take down powers, the eSafety Commissioner. Australia is leading in this area and we’ll, I'll be raising that with other G20 leaders when I’m there because we have to go further than we are now.
Of course, at COP26, I’ll have the privilege of being able to confirm Australia's commitment to have a target of net zero by 2050, and of course to update our projections as part of our Nationally Determined Contributions, that our 26 to 28 per cent target, we anticipate, will be exceeded with a 35 per cent reduction in our emissions by 2030. And on that, I’ll pass you to the Minister for Health.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thank you very much, Prime Minister and to Professor Kelly. Australia already has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. We have one of the most recently vaccinated populations, and now we are set to have, after Israel, one of the earliest whole of nation booster programs.
Yesterday, we set out the fact that the TGA had approved the Pfizer vaccine for booster. Today, I'm really pleased and privileged to be able to announce that ATAGI has recommended that we commence the booster program for the whole of nation, with the Pfizer vaccine. Other vaccines are likely to put forward applications - Moderna, we are expecting to do that.
I'm very pleased to be able to say that I’ve spoken with the country representative for Novavax today, and we are expecting Novavax to submit their application for their vaccine to the Australian regulator in the coming weeks, if not earlier. And what this means is that commencing November the 8th for the full national program, the boosters will be available on the basis of six months plus from your vaccination. Early priority will be a focus on aged care and disability, but, by definition, we have enough vaccine in the country to vaccinate everybody who comes due. And so as your six months has passed, then you will be eligible to come forward.
Indeed, the first aged care vaccinations are occurring today, literally as we speak, in four minutes from now, I think, they’re due to commence in the Geelong area, where TLC is commencing their program, and others will be carried out over the coming days before November 8, and if any GPs wish to commence, then they’re in a position to do that, but we're setting this program to commence more generally across the country.
I'm also pleased that we will be offering Pfizer to all pharmacies in Australia and they can use that for primary and secondary doses or to complete the, complete the booster program for people. And it will be up to individual pharmacies whether they take that up, and the first of those will be rolled out from the week of the 8th of November.
Finally, just in terms of the rollout itself, we've had another 221,000 vaccinations in the last 24 hours. We've now passed the 35 million mark - 35,049,000 vaccinations. And as the PM said, we’re over 75 per cent double dose. We’re 75.5 per cent for the 16 plus population and 87.6 per cent of 16 plus Australians have now had a first vaccination. And just to put this in context, perhaps, most importantly, 98.8 per cent, 98.8 per cent of our over 70s have had a first dose, and 99.8 per cent of our aged care workers have had a, have had at least a first dose, and here in the ACT, you’ve passed 99 per cent. So, thank you and congratulations.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you PM and thank you Minister. So, it's a very important day after a lot of discussions with ATAGI to get that final advice on the booster programme. A couple of points I just want to make to add to what the Minister has said. This is a boost. Two doses, the primary course of the vaccination will be fully vaccinated and seen as fully vaccinated in any way that that works through to, for example, for the overseas travel and so forth. So two doses is fully vaccinated. The booster, I've said this before, it gives you a boost, and it's important for those that have got to that six month time to consider their booster. It definitely gives extra protection against severe disease, particularly for older Australians and those that are in that vulnerable group. You'll remember last year with that 1a and 1b, we're not prioritising this time around, but they will be the ones that will be first to get to that six month period, so they should come forward. Health care workers can come forward. Anyone can come forward if they've, if they've got to that six month time to have the boost. So that's important that's been seen in the ATAGI statement will be published later today. It demonstrates the safety of that approach, demonstrates the effectiveness of that approach based on what we know from international experience. It's where we will be one of the first countries in the world to offer a booster to the whole of the population based on that six month mark once people are due.
The other, the other one thing I would like to say has been some a lot of excitement, of course, about the opening up of the international border on next Monday. There's been a challenge for those that are travelling as families, for children of a of an age, particularly between the age of 12 and 17 in some countries they haven't started that programme for vaccinations for that age group. In the UK, for example, they take one dose of vaccine as being fully vaccinated. So I've been working very closely with my colleagues in the ACT, Victoria and New South Wales in the last couple of days just to get certainty for that. And so that will be that will be resolved today, later today. But just in general terms, we're not going to be splitting up families. Those children will travel above the cap and they will be required to have a seven day home quarantine and a couple of tests just to give that extra safety buffer because they are not fully vaccinated. But we're not splitting up families and we've got agreement, as the PM has said across those three jurisdictions, very good cooperation. I thank my colleagues for working through that. There will be further to say in detail about that later today.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] The Nationals secured a regional infrastructure fund as part of the net zero deal. Can you be transparent with the public and tell us how big this fund is? Who's going to run it and what is the investment mandate?
PRIME MINISTER: All of the policies that we'll be announcing to invest in rural and regional Australia will be included in the usual budget updates and that'll be done between here and the next election.
JOURNALIST: You said earlier this week that your net zero target by 2050 was an economy wide target. Mr Joyce this morning indicated that agriculture has been carved out, that methane emissions won't be included. Can you clarify?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a whole-of-economy emissions reduction target. What we've said very clearly, though, is we're not signing up to the 2030 methane request, and that's actually a bipartisan position, and we made that very clear and that's been reported today. We've also said very clearly that under our plan, we won't be putting any mandates on farmers. We won't be targeting them in any way as part of our emissions reduction plan. They're the clear assurances that we've made. We won't be doing things that will have a net negative impact on our agricultural sector. What we want is the agricultural sector to be able to participate in this. We don't want them to be excluded from the revenue streams and income sources that will flow from their participation in this programme. To exclude them from that would be a great disadvantage to them, and I don't want them to be cut off from that. The other point I'd make, though, is on the safeguard mechanism, which you'd be familiar with, which came from the King Review, he, ah, that mechanism currently doesn't include any feedlots or any farmers or anyone in that situation, and nor will it because of the way that it's designed, and we have no plans to change that. And so that's the nature of the things that we've discussed. I mean, the agricultural sector is going to be better off under our plan and they’re better off being part of the plan, and they have a lot to contribute to the plan as they have already. They've played a huge role in the 20 per cent reduction in emissions that we've already been able to achieve, and they'll continue to play a positive role, a role that benefits them, that boosts their productivity and their opportunities and lift the incomes and the economies of our rural and regional areas.
JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify on that? Was it the Australian Government's position before negotiations started with The Nationals that the country would make a pledge to cut emissions methane emissions by 2030? And the negotiations, with the negotiation with Barnaby Joyce on that matter did not try ...
PRIME MINISTER: We never had any plans to sign up to that.
JOURNALIST: The COP President, Boris Johnson's COP President, Alok Sharma, has welcomed your 2050 commitment, but he's called for a more ambitious 2030 NDC. What will you say to him when you get to Glasgow and second question with the G20, will you be looking to mend some bridges when you meet with the French leader and also the Chinese delegate, I think that's the foreign minister at the G20?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll take up all of those opportunities and looking forward to wherever we have those opportunities, I mean we'll be conscious, particularly of I know the deep disappointment in France about the decision we took in Australia's national interests regarding the submarine contract. We've been working those issues through. I welcomed back the Ambassador to Australia. I'm pleased he's here, there's been good engagement with him over the course of this past week, which has been great and and we'll take that forward in a spirit of cooperation in particularly for France, because, you know, we're both here in the Indo-Pacific, we are like-minded, we share values and we share the objectives and aspirations for the Indo-Pacific region, of which France isn't just an observer of, they're a participant. They're here as part of the French territories. So we have an obvious partnership here in the Indo-Pacific, and I know that's understood in France. There is some deep disappointment on those contractual issues on a bipartisan basis, but we'll work through those and I'm very confident about that. You'll have to remind me about the first part of your question.
JOURNALIST: ... the COP President ...
PRIME MINISTER: We've got a plan for Australia. They've got a plan for the UK. And I welcomed Boris's comments the other day because Boris actually has a pretty good understanding of the Australian economy. But let's just talk about how well the Australian economy has gone with our emissions reductions to date. I mean, when you compare them to our good friends in Canada and New Zealand, which haven't even cracked double digits yet on emissions reduction and then of course, the United States or Japan, we're outperforming all of them on our emissions reduction. And that is at the same time that we've had one of the biggest increases in our LNG industry in our history. And so that tells you something about our ability to manage the sort of economy we have to achieve emissions reduction completely different to what the UK is doing and be able to say exactly what we're going to say. We've always taken the view that we intend to meet and beat. We've always taken the view that performance means more than aspiration on these things. And we have set out, I think, very responsible targets. We will meet them and we will beat them, but particularly on the issue of 2050 v 2030. This is a very important point and that is that the technology that you need, much of which was some of which at the very least, is yet to be realised, that has long lead times and you need to put the resources in now for things that could take 10 or even 20 years. And if you divert your resources away from those types of things that has the, that 2050 pay off, you actually put the 2050 payoff at risk. We want to achieve the 2050 outcome and we want to achieve it with the technology that delivers it. Now, I know there's been a lot of feedback on our plan, which doesn't express the same confidence in technology to achieve this outcome that we have. And I can tell Australians very clearly that if you don't think technology can do this and you're not confident about that, and it seems the Labor Party is not, they have two other options. They'll tax you and they'll regulate you and force your decisions. Now, that's not our plan. That's not the Australian way. That clearly seems to be the path they're heading down. That's a matter for them. Other countries will make their decisions. We'll make Australian decisions, in Australia for Australia's interests, and that's what I'll be saying in Glasgow.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce says agriculture has been carved out of the net zero deal. You're saying it hasn't. Has there been some sort of misunderstanding here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have no misunderstanding. It's a whole-of-economy emissions reduction plan.
JOURNALIST: Did Barnaby Joyce misunderstand?
PRIME MINISTER: That's the policy. That's the policy agreed by Cabinet.
JOURNALIST: On the forthcoming legislation on the Integrity Commission. Have you given any thought to strengthening that legislation, given comments from your own backbench about the need for that? And secondly, do you regret the comment you made about "we would not follow a New South Wales ICAC's style model", given what we've heard from Gladys Berejiklian's own former colleagues in the last couple of weeks about her, how she should have disclosed the relationship with Daryl Maguire?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the second one, no, I don't have any regrets about that in terms of the statements I've made previously and on the other matter, we've been setting out our model, if that model is not accepted by others in this parliament, well, that's a matter for them. But that's the model that we would seek to proceed with and will seek to finalise that, that final legislation. We think that's the best way to go ahead. I think there are differences between state governments and federal governments when it comes to these matters. I mean, we have a lot of other institutions here at the federal level that I think are being ignored by others who do a very, have a very important role. I'm not about to let or support a system that, you know, takes us down the path where it's it's trial outside of proper processes. That's not something that I think is consistent with our values.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] the voter ID legislation introduced this morning to be in place for the next election and what do you make of the criticism that it is a very large response to a very small problem?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, this has been the, I used to be, one of my first jobs in this place, I was the deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. That was one of the first jobs I had. And, you know, at the ‘13, ‘16 and 2019 elections, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has been recommending these types of changes. It's not an earth shattering proposal that when you go to the vote that you should be able to say you are who you are and provide some form of identification to support that, that's an important protection for our democracy. In fact, it's so important that countries like Canada, France, Sweden, Belgium, at least 14 states in the United States, the United Kingdom has this year introduced voter ID laws to the House of Commons just this year. I mean, this is a standard practise that is in liberal democracies. The Declaration Vote process provides the safeguard for those who may be vulnerable and for whom this might prove a challenge, but not one vote will be lost that is a formal vote and a real vote from a real person, and those safeguards are built into the Bill. But I think it's fair enough in a democracy. If I turn up at the ballot box, there in Lilli Pilli and say, my name's Scott Morrison and give them my address, that I should be able to say, and here's a form of identification that we all have these days to be able to to be able to substantiate that. And if I don't have that, well, you do a declaration vote and that's sorted out during the normal process.
And on the answer to the other one is yes, of course. I think this is an important change, and I think it's good for our democracy. So if the Labor Party doesn't want to support people actually telling people who they are and backing that up, well, you'd have to wonder why.
JOURNALIST: Is there a goal for the optimal coverage of booster shots? And if not, why not given it's a population wide programme? Do we need to get that 70-80 per cent target again?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll ask Paul to address that.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: The short answer is no, Clare. There's no target for this one. It's a boost. Just to reiterate the first two doses that primary course is the full vaccination, after that is is an extra bonus, which I would very much encourage people to take up. As the PM has said, we have plenty of vaccine all over the country, multiple places that people can get this, get their dose for their booster. And in the meantime, those that haven't had their first and second doses, please go ahead and get that done today.
PRIME MINISTER: Plenty of vaccines. There's enough vaccines out there for everybody who wants one to get one. So please, if you haven't done it yet, go out there and get vaccinated. I'll see those of you on the plane, a little later. Thank you.
Remarks, ASEAN-Australia Virtual Summit
27 October 2021
PRIME MINSTER: Well, thank you very much, Your Majesty and Your Excellencies. I'm delighted to be here at this first annual ASEAN-Australia Summit with our ASEAN friends. Another significant milestone in our relationship.
As your first dialogue partner, our annual summits will allow us to deepen our already very, very strong ties, and will guide us through an era of profound change in the Indo-Pacific.
I wish to particularly commend Your Majesty Brunei Darussalam for its leadership and commitment to promoting stability and recovery during what has been an extraordinarily challenging year.
Your Majesty, I have particularly valued our work together this year on mental health - the shadow pandemic - which I know you have made mention of in many forums as leaders have come together over the course of these past few years.
Brunei Darussalam’s Chair theme, ‘We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper,’ underlines the importance of our shared recovery.
And as we continue to grapple with COVID-19, we know that we cannot respond and recover alone. In true partnership, that is the best way forward.
There is no higher priority for us all than access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
We have shared almost four million doses directly with ASEAN partners to date, and we expect to share millions more by the end of next year.
I am also pleased to advise that we will share at least an additional 10 million doses from our domestic supply with ASEAN countries by mid-next year.
ASEAN members’ growth underpins regional stability, and Australia's prosperity.
Your stability is fundamental to our own. Our health security is inextricably tied to yours. And our enduring partnership supports an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific region.
ASEAN is at the centre of the Indo-Pacific. And we back this, both through our words and our actions.
In 2020, Australia made significant investments to support your COVID-19 response and recovery, including some $500 Australian dollars - million dollars - of packages of support that I announced at last year’s Summit, consistent with the four key areas of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which we share.
Australia has proposed an elevation of our partnership with ASEAN to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, because we want our cooperation to reach new heights.
I respect ASEAN's process for considering CSPs.
Should ASEAN decide to agree to CSPs, Australia is, of course, ready.
A CSP, though, is more than just a label. We will back it with substance that positions our partnership to address complex challenges in the future.
And I'm pleased to announce today the Australia for ASEAN Futures Initiative, to drive cooperation, support implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and deepen our investment in the region's future.
Australia will provide $124 million to fund projects, jointly identified by ASEAN and Australia, to address to address complex and emerging challenges.
Challenges like COVID-19 recovery, terrorism, transnational crime, energy security and transition to lower emissions technology, the circular economy, and, of course, our healthy oceans.
Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, as you know, recently announced an enhanced capability and technology sharing partnership, which is known as AUKUS.
All three of us are ASEAN Dialogue Partners.
And I want to address this upfront, because transparency and communication on this important initiative is important to Australia, with our ASEAN friends.
And I know hearing from us has been important to you.
AUKUS does not change Australia's commitment to ASEAN or the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Indeed, it reinforces it. It reinforces the backing that we have for an ASEAN-led regional architecture.
These commitments are stronger than ever.
AUKUS adds to our network of partnerships that support regional stability and security.
Australia remains deeply committed to international law and the rules-based order that has underpinned regional stability and prosperity, and which all ASEAN members depend.
AUKUS does not change Australia's deep, long-standing commitment to nuclear non-proliferation - Australia does not want and will not seek nuclear weapons, as I've assured all ASEAN members.
We will continue to meet all our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Australia and ASEAN - we're good friends, we're good neighbours, and are natural partners at the centre of the Indo-Pacific.
And so I look forward to hearing from you all today, and I thank you very much for the honour of being part of this first dialogue partnership. Thank you, Your Majesty.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
26 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Australians understand, and they support, the need to take action on climate change. So do I. So does our government. I know this because Australians and our government are already taking action on climate change and we're already delivering. We're already down the path. Australia has already achieved more than a 20 per cent reduction in our emissions since 2005. Australia has already achieved the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world. Australia already has a rate of installation of renewable energy that is eight times per capita faster than New Zealand and Japan and three times faster than the United States, and the EU and Germany, specifically. Australia has already met and beat, but our Kyoto 2020 targets and indeed Australia will beat and meet our 2030 targets as well. Australians' actions on climate change speak louder than the words of others.
We're getting it done on emissions reduction. That is the Australian way. And we've done this at the same time as increasing the size of our economy by 45 per cent. Growing our economy and creating some three million jobs. Expanding our exports, expanding our agriculture and resource sectors, in particular our LNG sector. And most recently, Australia now has a million of our number back in manufacturing jobs. A million Australians employed in manufacturing. This is what is being achieved in Australia. Emissions coming down. Our economy growing. And the opportunities of Australians expanding. Australians want action on climate change. They're taking action on climate change, but they also want to protect their jobs and their livelihoods. They also want to keep the costs of living down. And they also want to protect the Australian way of life, especially in rural and regional areas. The Australian way of life is unique. I mentioned this to our party room this morning. After the terrible floods in North Queensland, when I stood in the town hall in Julia Creek, I said we needed to rebuild the cattle industry, which had been devastated in the space of about 24 to 48 hours, for many reasons. But one was because it was part of the unique Australian way of life. And that remains true in all of the challenges we face. Australians want a plan that gets the balance right. And our plan to reach what will be our new official target, of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Our plan gets the balance right. Our plan charts a uniquely Australian way. That recognises the challenges.
The world is changing, and the world's response to climate change is changing the world, it is changing the global economy. This is real. It's happening. We understand it and we recognise it. We need to protect against the threats that come from that. And we also need to realise the opportunities that indeed help mitigate those threats and enable Australia to succeed. We know we can't let the changes that are happening around the world just happen to Australia. We know we can't pretend it's not happening, the changes that are occurring around the world, just as we haven't been pretending in the actions that both the government has been taking and most importantly, Australians have been taking. Our plan is a fair plan. It's a practical plan. It's a responsible plan. Our plan for net zero by 2050 is the plan that I believe Australians want because it gets it right. It's been carefully put together. We've listened very carefully to both the concerns and the ambitions of Australians in pulling this together to ensure that we get the plan right. Our plan, most importantly, backs Australians to achieve what they want to achieve when it comes to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Australians want to do that and our plan enables them to do that. Our plan works with Australians to achieve this goal. Our plan enables them, it doesn't legislate them, it doesn't mandate them, it doesn't force them. It respects them. It understands that Australians want to do this, that they want to improve their pasture, that they want to protect their industries, that they want to see them succeed in the future, that they want to have the skills in the future and for their kids to have the skills in the future to be successful in the world that they will face over the next 30 years. It's a plan that backs Australians.
It's also a plan, as I said, that's uniquely Australian. It's an energy trade and economic plan, not just an environmental plan. It's about delivering results through technology, not taxes. It's focused on Australia's national interests and securing our strengths by determining our own destiny. Australians will set our own path to net zero by 2050, and we'll set it here by Australians for Australians. It keeps traditional advantages in the regions while supporting the growth of new industries, and it guarantees we keep downward pressure on those costs of living. It's a plan that ensures that there are many things we don't do as well. It's not a plan at any cost. There's no blank cheques here. It will not shut down our coal or gas production or exports. It will not impact households, businesses or the broader economy with new costs or taxes imposed by the initiatives that we are undertaking. It will not cost jobs, not in farming, mining or gas, because what we're doing in this plan is positive things, enabling things. It will not increase energy bills. It won't. It is not a revolution, but a careful evolution to take advantage of changes in our markets. And it's not a set and forget plan. It has an insurance policy review mechanism to make sure that it keeps delivering for regional Australia. In this plan, there is accountability. And we will be having the Productivity Commission every five years, the first one due by the end of 2023, that will monitor the impact, the socio economic impact of our plans into the future.
So I can say to rural and regional Australians, so this is a good plan for you, it's a good plan for all Australians, and we're confident that it's going to secure your future, that you can plan for your future with confidence and we're backing that up by ensuring that we'll measure that. We won't just be measuring the fact that we'll be reducing emissions. We'll be measuring the fact that we're creating jobs. We'll be measuring the fact that we're boosting incomes will be measuring the fact that we are preserving Australians' livelihoods right across the country because that is also one of the key measures of performance and success with this plan.
So I'll be taking this plan to COP26 for our target to achieve net zero by 2050. You'll be supported by our updated projection that will see us exceed our 2030 target with emissions reduction of up to 35 per cent by 2030. We will keep our commitment, though, when it comes to our pledge that we made and took to the last election of 26 to 28 per cent. But we will meet it and we will beat it, and we will beat it with emissions reductions, we believe, of up to 35 per cent, and we may even achieve better. But this is the approach that we put to the Australian people. We said, there's the mark, but we can meet it and we can beat it and we will. And the world will be able to see us achieving that and they'll be able to take record of that. Because what Australians are doing now is getting results, and they're going to keep getting results and they're going to keep getting better results, so we will honour our commitment to the Australian people. That's what I took to them. That's what they approved and that's what we're doing, and we will continue to work to do even better as part of our plan.
Now I'm going to pass you over to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction. I want to thank Angus for the tremendous work that he has done within the government over many years now as we have worked our way through this issue. It has been a very difficult issue and it is one that has been carefully considered. Many who are in this room have been here for a long time. And our journey to this, this place today, I think, has been an important one. But what it says to Australians is we don't come at these things lightly. We come to this in a considered way, in a responsible way. We've come to this very conscious of the impacts of what is happening around the world on Australians and to ensure that we can address that and we can put them in a stronger position. You know, only the Liberal and National parties working together, I think, can get the balance right here. And only the Liberal and National parties, I think, can be trusted with an economic plan that can achieve this and deliver this because we get it, we get both the risks and the opportunities. And that's what our plan is designed to address. So I'm going to ask Angus to take you through that. I think all the members of my cabinet, of course, the Deputy Prime Minister, in bringing us to this very important point and to enable Australians to move forward with confidence with what they're already doing, which is cutting emissions and growing our economy. Angus.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: Thanks PM. Well, this plan is practically achievable pathway for Australia to reach net zero by 2050, the Australian way. And that means supporting our traditional jobs, but also capturing new opportunities. It means recognising that customer and investor demands are changing and we need to adapt with them. It means preserving our traditional advantage in competitive, reliable, affordable energy, but it also means building on our track record. And if we turn to the first slide, you'll see that Australia's track record is a proud one, we see developing countries that since 2005 have increased emissions by up to 86 per cent in India, over 70 per cent in China, 33 per cent in South Korea. And Australia versus even developed countries has performed extremely well, with a reduction of almost 21 per cent since 2005 - 20.8 per cent. That's higher than the OECD average in terms of reductions at the United States, Japan, New Zealand and Canada that are obviously comparable major commodity exporters like Australia. Now we've achieved that at a time when we've increased our economy by 45 per cent and we've increased our product exports by over 200 per cent. And you'll see on the next slide that reduction of 20.8 per cent, of course, is substantially larger if you exclude that extraordinary export performance, which all Australians can be very proud of, part of that is the rapid growth of the LNG sector where Australia has been a world leader.
If we look forward to 2030, we are on track to meet and beat our Paris targets. As the Prime Minister said, we're on track now with the work we've done in the technology investment roadmap to achieve up to 35 per cent reduction by 2030. And that comes on a per capita basis to a reduction in emissions 50 per cent or more, which is a very, very respectable performance. And as always, with Australia, we achieve, we deliver. That has been our track record. When we say we're going to do something, we do it, we meet it and we beat it. Now, if we look forward to our plan to 2050, if we go to the next slide. The vision here is to take practical action to achieve net zero by 2050, and that plan is built on our existing policies. It's a plan that will not put industries, regions or jobs at risk. It means we take advantage of those economic opportunities that are emerging now while continuing to serve our traditional markets. And it's a plan for net zero, not absolute zero. And that means offsets are an important part of that plan. The recognition, for instance, that Australia has 90 million hectares of productive agricultural land, which is a very significant carbon sink and can be a more significant carbon sink.
There are five principles driving the plan. Technology, not taxes. Choices, not mandates. We respect customer choice. We respect the choices of Australians, and they've made the choices. We've seen a dramatic uptake of household solar, for instance, in Australia, world leading stuff, but we also respect the choices of our export customers. Those choices will change over time, but it's not for us to say to them what they should buy. It's for us to serve them and adapt our products as they ask for those products to change. It means driving down the costs of a portfolio of technologies, getting those low emissions technologies to cost competitiveness. This is a plan about reducing the cost of low emissions technologies, not raising the cost of traditional energy sources and in sync with that, the fourth principle is to keep our affordable, reliable energy advantage that we've had as a nation for many, many years, and our technology goals are all about supporting that. We are as a country accountable for progress, and there is no country that has provided quarterly emissions updates by sector, by gas, over an extended period of time as Australia has, and that transparency will continue. If you look at where the plan delivers the reductions in emissions we've already achieved over 20 per cent, as I said, the technology investment roadmap, the priority technologies in that roadmap that I outlined with some additions I'll come to in a moment, back in September last year will drive down emissions by 40 per cent.
Global technology trends, this is technologies where we're not shaping them, but we will use them to drive down emissions by another 15 per cent. Offsets provide the opportunity to further reduce emissions by 10 to 20 per cent, and then we're relying on additional technology breakthroughs, some of which we can see now that are likely to provide that final 15 per cent. If you compare our approach with other approaches to this, the traditional approach is to set a target to model the carbon tax required to meet that target and then impose a mechanism usually with a three or four letter acronym to impose that cost on all Australians. That's about raising the cost of traditional energy sources and traditional technologies. Our approach is quite different. We're looking at the customer and technology trends shaping those trends to our advantage. And on the back of that, ensuring we have a portfolio of technologies that can deliver the outcome we want to deliver, which is net zero by 2050. Now this is not new for Australians or for people all over the world. The march of technology is an extraordinary one, and it has solved problem after problem for us over an extended period of time. If you move to the next slide, you'll see some wonderful illustrations if you look at the cost of transistors over time. We've seen dramatic reductions over decade after decade, and as a result, once those costs get to a certain point, you see explosive growth, non-linear explosive growth of the technology. We've seen exactly that same pattern with solar. Solar costs have consistently since the early 70s come down at four per cent or more a year. Every year. Year on year. We've seen them coming down, coming down, coming down. For that first 30 years from the early 70s to the early 2000s, one gigawatt was adopted. The next 10 years we saw 100 gigawatts. The last 10 years through to 2022, we're expecting to see a thousand gigawatts.
So that's how low emissions technologies advance. We're seeing similar reductions in costs in other technologies. And one example of which we have is obviously a priority technology in the technology investment roadmap is clean hydrogen, where we've set a goal of under $2 per kilogram. And as we get to that cost competitiveness, that roadmap goal, we know, we'll see explosive growth in the deployment of clean hydrogen. We, as Australia, have an opportunity to be a world leader in the adoption of blue and green hydrogen. Now the core levers in the plan are investment in that portfolio of technologies, and if we go to the next page, you'll see in addition to that, we're providing incentives, not penalties, through the emission reduction mechanism that we set up a number of years ago. But we're also seeing rapid growth in private demand for credits, for abatement credits. And with that, we see great potential for the use of offsets, whether it's in soil carbon, land sequestration, carbon capture and storage and high integrity offsets with our neighbours here in the Asia Pacific enabling that investment in infrastructure, information and standards on that information to inform customer choice and regular reviews that the PM has talked about.
I'll skip over the next slide, which takes that into further detail, but that's in your plan. But central to this is the $20 billion investment the government is making in that technology portfolio. We are confident that that will deliver an additional $60 to $100 billion of state government and private sector investment in research, deployment and demonstration and commercialisation. At the heart of the plan is getting to the goals in technology investment roadmap. And if we move to the next page, you'll see those goals getting the cost of hydrogen under $2 a kilogram. Energy storage to under long duration energy storage to under $100 a megawatt hour. Steel, aluminium carbon capture and storage soil carbon, we have added for this year and additional technology goal, which is ultra low cost solar below $15 per megawatt hour. This is a technology where Australia has played a leadership role for many, many years. We can continue to into the future and that goal will be crucial not only to Australia meeting its goals, our goals, but for other countries around the world. By applying those technologies across various sectors, we can see how emissions will come down through choice through customers choosing those technologies. And you see on the next page that the various technologies I've just outlined across different sectors electricity, transport, industry, agriculture and the land sector drives down emissions between now and 2050 based on the goals and the timeframes in that previous slide. And that puts Australia in a position to lead and shape not just our own emissions reduction, but emissions reductions for others in our customers around the world and at the same time, strengthen our economy.
This is the right plan for Australia. To summarise the outcomes from it, which you'll see in the plan. Australians $2,000 better off on average in 2050 compared with no Australian action. A gross national income which is 1.6 per cent higher. 62,000 new regional jobs in mining and heavy industry, and additional jobs over and above that in other sectors. No taxes or legislated targets or mechanisms. We won't be raising the price of electricity. Indeed, those technology goals put downward pressure on, and we certainly won't be putting industries, regions or jobs at risk.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when you, when you look at this plan and you, and the performance to this point, you make the argument that the economy's grown, exports have grown. How do you explain the Nationals position then, in that context, and doesn't the fact that the Deputy Prime Minister, he doesn't believe this, he told his party room he doesn't believe it, doesn't that undermine the very credibility of your plan?
PRIME MINISTER: This plan is 100 per cent supported by our Government, 100 per cent supported by our Government. It was resolved by Cabinet last night. What we've gone through as a Coalition and over over many weeks, but indeed over a longer period of time than that, is to bring us to this point where we recognise that what is happening around the world, we can't just let it happen to us. You know, in this debate, there are those who will say we'll be ruined if we don't and we will be ruined if we do. And what's important for Australia is we set that middle course, and that's what my Government’s doing. And it's a Coalition Government, and the plan has the full support of our Coalition partners. How do I know that? Because I know the difficult path they went on to get to this point. They have given their commitment in the Cabinet, as part of a Coalition. For 75 years, our Coalition has stood together and it's endured many things over that period of time, and I'm so pleased that our Coalition has proved strong in dealing with one of the most difficult issues, and what that should reassure Australians about, when it comes to us doing this is a Coalition - you all knew my view and the Liberal Party's view - what this says about the Coalition is we're united on getting this done because we agree together as a Coalition that this is the right plan for Australia. There is an alternative plan, which is not our plan. Well, to be fair, there isn't, because they haven't said what it is yet under the Labor Party. They've got a target without a plan. They've got not even a target for 2030, let alone a plan for 2050. They have a plan to legislate people, to mandate people. That's not our plan. Last time they did something about this in government, they taxed people. So, there is an alternative. It's not our alternative. And the Coalition is rock solid on pursuing this plan because this protects jobs, it protects livelihoods, and it protects a way of life for rural and regional Australia.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described Australia committing to net zero emissions by 2050 as heroic. Is it heroic or is it just the right thing to do? And the 62,000 new regional mining and heavy industry jobs, will that be facilitated by any particular carve outs to continue to allow diesel usage in heavy machinery? Where will those mining jobs particularly be?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I welcome the comments of my good friend, Prime Minister Johnson, and I wish him well for leading the COP26. One of the things that I think goes to the strength of relationship between Australia and the UK, between Boris and I, is Boris understands Australia. He understands that this is, this is a different challenge for Australia than to other countries. And, so, he understands the significance of this, and he and I have discussed it on many occasions and at length. And, so, he understands that this is an important decision for Australia in making our contribution and doing the right thing for our country first. And he understands we're making this decision in our national interest. And and he welcomes it. So, I appreciate what what Boris has said, but in answer to your question, no, it's the right thing to do. It's the right plan for Australia.
Now, on the other matters, I'll let Angus add add to that, but this is a whole of economy plan. We want everyone in our economy to participate in this plan, because what is happening around the world with the global economy, with the world's response to climate change, of course, that has impacts in Australia, and particularly in rural and regional areas. Of course it does. And between now and the next election, we’ll be outlining a series of further investments and things that will continue to strengthen our regions to ensure that they're successful, that they are successful as we move forward, not just in this area, but in so many other areas. But it is important that they're all participating in that - the agricultural sector, the resources sector, the transport sector, sectors, the manufacturing sector. I mean, a million Australians back in manufacturing jobs. Under Labor, they lost one in eight manufacturing jobs. We've restored those jobs. The Modern Manufacturing Initiative that the Minister is responsible for, this is about leveraging all of these plans - whether it's our skills agenda, our manufacturing agenda, our research and science agenda - it’s about pulling all of that together in a whole of government, whole of economy approach - our Ag2030 plan, our critical minerals plan. In fact, what we're doing with the Quad and what we're doing, I'll be sitting down with the ASEAN Australia Summit this week. We'll be talking about this. This is all about getting the whole country, realising the benefits, and dealing with the challenges. But Angus.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: Well, there’s very significant job potential in the priority technologies we've chosen. We've chosen those for a reason, whether it's in the steel and iron ore supply chain, or the bauxite alumina aluminium supply chain, or indeed critical minerals that are supplying a number of those supply chains, whether it's lithium or nickel or copper. These are great opportunities for Australia. The key for us is to chase them. And that's exactly what we're doing as a Government - working with the private sector to do this. And we see enormous potential there. And as a Government, we are going to support those industries to create those jobs as best as we possibly can. And I'll tell you what, those jobs are there for the taking.
JOURNALIST: Perhaps for either Minister Taylor or yourself. Just on the technology roadmap - that 15 per cent of emissions reductions to be achieved by ASEAN developed technologies, are you prepared to hazard a guess as to what may, you know, be the frontrunners in that category? And secondly, secondly, when you announced this roadmap last year, I think you were forecast about $50 billion in co-investment. Today you’re saying 60 to 100. Can you explain is that because of the inclusion of ultra low cost solar, or is it something else?
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: So, the first thing I'd say is we are seeing more interest and co-investment from the private sector than we originally anticipated. So, we were conservative. If you look at what the CFC and ARENA is now seeing with co-investment, it's higher than we had originally anticipated. In answer to your other question, I'd just clarify what you said there, Phil. This is not technologies we don't necessarily know about. It may well be technologies that we know quite a lot about but have not yet got to the point where we can make them priority technologies. We can see a pathway to take the cost of hydrogen down to under $2 a kilogram. There's other technologies that are not yet at that point. Now, some examples, some examples of that would be low emissions cement. We know cement globally is is responsible for a significant significant emissions. It's a tough pathway. We know some of the things we can do there. There's technologies emerging that can help with that, and we're investing in some of those. Feed supplements is another one. Again, early days, we’ve still got a long way to go on this. But, so, there's a number of these technologies we're aware of, they were laid out in our Technology Investment Roadmap last year, and we'll continue to invest in those.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will Australia be updating its nationally determined contribution to include the net zero emissions by 2050 target?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Good. Thank you. And on the 30 to 35 per cent projection for reduction of emissions by 2030, is that based on the Technology Investment Roadmap target being met? And, if that's the case, why not adopt them as an official target?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ll let Angus particularly deal with the technicalities of of the, of the projection, and they will also be included in our NDCs that are taken forward. That's what we expect to achieve. Our target will remain as it is, because that's the commitment I gave to the Australian people. It's as simple as that. That's what I said our target would be in this term. That's the target for 2030. I said it would be 26 to 28 per cent. I said we'd meet and beat it. It was a, it was a floor, not a ceiling, and it it enabled, I think, the ambition that we have had over the course of this term to ensure that we're we’re we're at overachieving on that target. I remember during the last election campaign, those of you who joined us on the trail, I mean, you were saying we wouldn't meet it, that this wouldn't be achieved, and our opponents were saying, oh, that won't be able to be done. Impossible. Guess what? They said that about our 2020 targets as well, and they said they wouldn't be achieved. We achieved them. We're going to achieve this one. In fact, we're going to exceed it. But what is important is that I act consistent with the mandate I had from the Australian people. They rejected a 45 per cent target at the last election. They endorsed a meet and beat target of 26 to 28 per cent, which is what we've done. But Angus, on ...
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: Just to answer that other other question, yes, this includes the early benefits of the Technology Investment Roadmap through to 2030.
JOURNALIST: Can we get a projection about that?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will you go to the election seeking a new mandate for a 20, new 2030 target? You won’t? Ok. And just on modelling, you were very tough on Bill Shorten for not releasing modelling on his 2030 target the last election ...
PRIME MINISTER: It would be hard for him to release modelling he didn't have.
JOURNALIST: Well, there’s no modelling here either. We see some outcome …
PRIME MINISTER: No, there is modelling here, and yes, it'll be released in due course. Today's about the plan. We'll be releasing modelling at another time.
JOURNALIST: Just on 2030, Pacific neighbours have said there'll be catastrophe if Australia doesn’t set an example …
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I can’t quite hear you. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Pacific neighbours have said there will be a catastrophe if Australia doesn't set an example and commit to harder 2030 cuts. What do you say to those neighbouring countries now that you've appeased the National Party and left their futures effectively under threat in low lying areas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I actually just don't accept the premise of your question at all. I think you're wrong. What we've done is produced the right plan for Australia, and I think it's the right plan for our region. I think, I know our regional partners - I was talking to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on the weekend - I know they will strongly welcome the fact that Australia has now committed to net zero emissions by 2050. That was one of the key items of discussion we had at the last time we were able to gather together at a Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Retreat, and I gave an undertaking at that meeting that we would consider that issue carefully. And we have and we have confirmed that that is now our position. And they will welcome strongly the fact that we believe we will be able to achieve a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. That is something we actually think we are going to achieve. As I said, the actions of Australia speak louder than the words of others. There will be lots of words in Glasgow, but I'll be able to point to the actions of Australia and the achievements of Australia, and I think that's very important. The credibility of Australia's position is confirmed by our record. We've cut it already by 20 per cent and grown our economy by 45 per cent. New Zealand, Canada, United States, other countries - they can't speak to that. And there'll be other countries that turn up in Glasgow and they'll say they have targets and they’ll say they have ambitions. But you won't find the same plan. You won't find the same detailed plan that we're releasing here today. What you need, I always said that we would not commit to this unless I said we could have a plan to achieve it. And that's what we're delivering today. Riles.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the last six prime ministers who held press conferences announcing climate policies either lost subsequent elections or were dumped by their own parties. What gives you the confidence that you'll be the first to argue through a climate policy and survive?
PRIME MINISTER: I've brought our Government together on this. Our Government is committed to this. Our Government has come from difficult places, had hard discussions, but we've worked through it together, and we've come to this position. We've respected each other. We've listened to each other. We've constructed over a long period of time a careful plan that is conscious of the impacts and the opportunities, and enables Australians to keep doing what they're doing and and do even more, by encouraging them through the measures that we've got. We've set out clear principles which we will honour. You will have noticed this about how our Government operates - when we set out our economic response to COVID, I first set out the principles by which we would do that, and we're doing the same thing here. Those principles will guide all of our decisions. Technology, not taxes. Choices, not mandates. Ensuring we have a portfolio of technologies that get us there at the end of the day. To ensure that we keep the costs down and have the balance between reliability and affordability with emissions reduction. And, most importantly, to go back, the question was asked about our Pacific partners - a credibility on transparency and the authenticity of the of the of the credits and of the emissions reduction reporting that exists. Australia, as Angus said, has set clear marks on this. And one of the things that we raised at the Quad recently when I was in the United States, and I've discussed regularly with the ASEAN partners and will indeed this week, as well as those in the Pacific, is there will be, of course, an appetite around the world for high integrity credits, high integrity credits. Now, Australia will be an obvious place for that. There is no country that you can rely more on the integrity of any credits coming from any country than Australia. We are premium quality, top of the line, best in the in class when it comes to these high integrity credits. Now, we want to work with our Pacific Island nation partners, with our ASEAN friends, and those throughout the Indo-Pacific, working with the United States and particularly Japan, working with India, to ensure that we can lift the integrity of these credits, because I think that's been a real problem with the whole credit scheme. I think it's been, I think it's really undermined confidence. And, you know, it's not about the if or when, it's about the how, and the world has to start focusing on the how, and our Australian way focuses on the how. And I think that's the leadership that the world debate on this actually needs. The world has to focus on the how.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when do we see the details of your peace settlement with Barnaby Joyce on climate change? And secondly, if I could ask a question of the Minister, just on the, your graph says that you have a 91 to 97 per cent reduction in emissions in the electricity sector. For the common person, does that mean that by 2050 that electricity production in Australia will be zero emissions?
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: No. It'll be close, but it won't be all the way there. Well, so you've got to balance up a grid, and the grid has to have some dispatchable generation. The bulk energy requirement will be coming from zero emission sources, but dispatchability remains a very, very important issue.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] that's gas, but no coal.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: Well, you know, I'm not going to tell you what the exact composition is of the sources of dispatchability. But gas is clearly going to be part of the mix in providing that dispatchability. And that's an important part of making sure we've got the balance right. The last piece of emissions reduction in every sector and in every economy is always the hardest and proves to be the most expensive if you don't go about it the right way. And that's why offsets are such an important part of our plan.
PRIME MINISTER: And in relation to your other question, there is only one plan and the policies of the Government are the policies of the whole Government. And what has been important in ensuring that we're able to come to agreement on this is a couple of things. First one is to ensure that we have a proper mechanism through the Productivity Commission to ensure that the goal of this policy, which is not just to reduce emissions, but to ensure the socioeconomic health of our country and particularly our rural and regional areas, that that is something that we will continue to scrutinise every five years. First one done by the end of '23. Secondly, to ensure that our policies and our plans can include and ensure the activities of all of our sectors, particularly the agricultural sector, are recognised and are included and are able to be pursued. In addition, it's important that we're cutting the red tape when it comes to ensuring that we can get the projects that need to happen around this country can happen around this country. And that is something we're already pursuing in the legislative programme in the Senate right now. We have the first tranche of legislation in the Senate right now. And it's also about ensuring that we are investing in the regions, so they can take advantage of these opportunities. Because we understand that the impacts of the world's response has their impacts in Australia. That is understood. All of our policies will come out before the next election. In particular, there will be a budget next year, is our intention. But either way, all of our policies.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: We'll make decisions about that closer to that time. But my point about that is all of our policies, our investments in the regions, additional investments across a whole range of areas, they will be outlined as they have been outlined over these many years since the last election. So it will all be out there for everyone to see about what we're investing in, how we're investing in it. Because at the end of the day, now that we're past the "by when" and the "if", and now that we're into the "how", what this is a real choice of now, is the economic plan of the Government, the Liberals and the Nationals, to steer Australia through what will be a challenging time with the global response to climate change and how we intend to realise those opportunities, that economic plan to secure Australia's future through this time, or the economic plan, if they come up with one, of the Labor Party. And so at the election, there will be a clear choice on who do people trust with the right economic plan to see Australia through this. That's what it's all about at the end of the day. If you want to protect lives and livelihoods, as we have through COVID, if you want to protect livelihoods and the way of life of Australians, particularly in rural and regional areas, then you want a plan that has been developed by people, like in the Liberals and the Nationals who haven't just willy nilly signed up to this on a whim. That haven't just committed to a target without a plan and have chased the cheers of those for whatever purpose. You want a party and parties that have actually considered this deeply and have wrestled with it. And you've seen us wrestle with it. I think that is a badge of authenticity on this plan that demonstrates just how hard we have worked and wrestled with the difficult issues that Australians wrestle with too. Cutting emissions, protecting jobs and livelihoods. You've got to balance that, and that's what we've done. Kath.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, just a bit of housekeeping first before I get to the detailed question. Did you say a moment ago you would release the modelling?
PRIME MINISTER: Eventually, yes.
JOURNALIST: Eventually meaning when?
PRIME MINISTER: Some time, we're focussing on the plan today, there'll be another time when we'll release the modelling.
JOURNALIST: And projections, are we seeing the projections?
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: The projections are out today, you just saw them.
PRIME MINISTER: The outcomes of them is actually, you've got it in the document.
JOURNALIST: And can I just ask then, on 30 to 35 Angus, what is that band? I don't understand.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: So 35 is including the technology investment roadmap, the 30 is the traditional approach.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] sorry one more, one more, sorry to be greedy. Just if I understand the maths in this plan in terms of the abatement path to 2050, up to 50 per cent of it is offsets, technological breakthroughs that aren't specified and global technology trends that also aren't specified. Now PM, a minute ago you said quite rightly, we're on to the "how" now rather than the "why", but there's an enormous chunk of this plan where the "how" is entirely unclear.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: To pick up on that, we've clearly specified the sources of offsets. We're getting significant offsets now in native vegetation and what farmers are doing with their land. We're starting to see very significant offsets emerging on soil carbon. We've got 90 million hectares of productive agricultural land in this country. It is already a carbon sink. It can be a much bigger one and you'll see in the plan detail on where we think those opportunities are. They are very, very significant. Carbon capture and storage offers a big opportunity as well. Again, you'll see in the plan some of the areas where we see great potential for that, particularly through the production of hydrogen. So we've been very clear about where we think there's offsets are going to come from and there's potential as well, as the Prime Minister said, to get credits in our region, working with our Pacific neighbours, high integrity credits and helping them with those high integrity credits. The technologies which we haven't prioritised that we know are developing around the world are very well specified in the technology investment roadmap. Low emissions vehicles are central to that. And the transport sector is not one where we're leading on the supply chains, but we can certainly adopt those technologies and provide inputs to them like lithium. And so we do understand well how those technologies are evolving. So there is a large chunk of what you described there that is very well specified.
PRIME MINISTER: I might add to that. This is exactly the point we made, as Greg Hunt reminded us, when it came to 2020. We made the same point. I mean, if we're going to sit here and think we know everything that's going to happen between now and 2050, well, of course that's, I mean, you're not suggesting that. I don't think anyone else is suggesting that. I mean, if we don't think there's been a rapid development in technology on handheld devices in the last 10 years, then we must have been, someone must have been living on a different planet to the rest of us. That rate of technological advance is a given. It is actually a given in the modern world. And we've seen it in our own lives. We've seen it in the way that it's revolutionised the economy globally. And to not think that that is going to play a role over the next 30 years, that would be, I think, the more surprising assumption. Not the assumption that says that here are a suite of technologies which account for 40 per cent under our technology investment roadmap, a further 15 per cent that are established global technology trends. Established. And then assuming on top of that, that 15 per cent will come from the evolution and the momentum that is generated by those earlier technology developments, that is what has happened time immemorial, time immemorial. That is a very safe, it's probably one of the safest assumptions you can make, that the rapid escalation of technology will continue to drive these costs down. Anyone who'd walk into any JB Hi-Fi store anywhere in the country today and when they walked in there five years ago, will know the change in the price of what they were buying today to what it was five years ago. And the increase in its capacity and its capabilities and all of those things. That is the world we know. This is a plan for the world that we know and where it's heading.
JOURNALIST: PM, the cost is already $20 billion from what's been announced. What's the cost of this entire plan in terms of budget outlays when you look at all the things you need to do, not just those you're funding already, but those you'll need to fund?
PRIME MINISTER: Well they're already set out, David, in multiple Budgets. Because the plan draws together everything from our Modern Manufacturing Fund, we've got $300 million in carbon capture, use and storage, we've got $2 billion for the critical minerals projects, we've got $464 million for the clean hydrogen industrial hubs, we've got $1 billion in the Recycling Modernisation Fund. There's $550 million in the modern manufacturing strategy, there's $3.5 billion in the national water grid, $1.4 billion actually in Building Better Regions Fund. There's almost $2 billion in the Great Barrier Reef long term sustainability plan. There's the Ag2030 goal, there's the $5 billion Drought Fund. There's $6.4 billion into skills and training. And so it goes on. I mean, the Budget, the Budget is about achieving this plan and particularly on this plan, there is $20 billion, pretty much all of which gets spent in rural and regional areas to achieve the low emissions energy targets which are set out in this plan to achieving net zero by 2050. But what all of that does is supercharge everything else we're already doing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your new forecast gets you to 35 per cent reduction. It's not clear to me what accounts for that improvement on your old 26 to 28 per cent. Could you explain that? And how much of it is because New South Wales has upgraded its own 2030 net target? And the second question is, your forecast suggests that agriculture will contribute up to 36 per cent to your net zero by 2050. Does that mean that they haven't been carved out of having to do some of the heavy lifting?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I said at the start, this is a whole of economy plan.
THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: So just answering that first question, well, actually I'll go to the second one first, the agricultural one. Look, agriculture has enormous potential to provide offsets, and I mentioned that earlier from Katherine's question. And that is a critical piece of this. We see it as a way to abate, particularly those very hard areas where you've got the highest cost abatement. So when you get to the end, the last piece in any industry is always the hardest piece. The last piece in any economy is always the hardest piece. And that's why those offsets that we can get from agriculture are so important. In relation to your question about the historical achievement and where we sit on the 35 per cent, there's been three factors that have really driven that. The first is the rapid uptake of renewables, particularly solar, in recent years. So we're world leaders on solar. One in four houses. No other country in the world is at that level. We've seen extraordinary investments, world-beating investments in renewables increasingly dominated by solar in the last couple of years, and that has played an important role. Energy efficiency has played an important role, the role of business and households in driving energy efficiency, using new and emerging technologies. And the third piece is changes in land use. And of course, the role that farmers have played in that has made a very significant contribution.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll finish up with the Courier Mail because [inaudible].
JOURNALIST: What do you say to those regional Queenslanders who in 2019 found themselves voting for the Coalition for the first time on the back of its criticism of Labor's policy and the support for coal? And is there room for the Collinsville coal-fired power station, is there room for the Collinsville coal fired power station under your net zero plan?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'll say is we've kept the faith. We said we wouldn't have a 45 per cent emissions reduction target for 2030. That was the wrong plan for Australia. It is still the wrong plan for Australia. And let me tell you why. And none other than Bill Gates has expressed his view, as have many others. And that is, if you seek to mandate and force to 2030, you run the risk of diverting resources from these important longer term technologies, which have much longer lead times that will be essential and critical to meeting your 2050 objectives. What we've said about where we believe we'll be at 2030 at 35 per cent down, including the technology investment roadmap outcomes, is that path. It is not a linear path. It is not a straight line from here to net zero in 2050. That's not what the curve looks like. In fact, we're already 20 percent down the way. We're not starting at the start. We're already down the path. Australians are already doing this, and the technology path that will take us to 2050 will have a curve on it. It is not a straight line. And so we want to ensure that all the resources that we are putting into this as part of our plan are designed on achieving that and being able to do it without having to tax people, to mandate people, without seeing the lights go out, without seeing the purchase of low integrity credits, if there are credits at all. But ensuring that the actions that we're taking and the things that we're doing are fair dinkum. That they're real and they actually make a difference. And you know what, I'm looking forward to discussing this with others overseas because I think the Australian way shows a way for other countries to follow. You know, the challenges that we face here in Australia, particularly with the nature of our economy, are not that dissimilar to those being faced in Indonesia or in Vietnam or in India or places like that or indeed, China. And you know, if you really want to deal with this problem, it's not good enough to just tax people in developed countries and think that fixes the problem. Because I can tell you, China's emissions will keep going up. John Kerry said this himself in one of his first press conferences. He said America could reduce their emissions to zero and if China's emissions kept going up, we don't solve the problem. So we want to solve the problem. If you want to solve the problem, then you need scaled, affordable, low emissions technologies, running industries, creating jobs, not just here in Australia, but in Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India and other countries. And if you don't do that, that won't change. I think that's a clear message that developing countries have been sent. That won't change. We need to demonstrate and work with partners, as we indeed are with India in particular, with our technology partnership that we're able to bring together. And Angus' fine work there to ensure that we should be concluding that very shortly with Narendra. So that is the way forward on this. Technology is the way forward. Now, on the other matter that you raised, the feasibility study is not due back until the end of June, but any investments that people wish to make, well, they have to meet the necessary planning and other regulatory approvals for them to go ahead, and they have to make sense to them commercially. And if they stack up, they stack up.
JOURNALIST: Including a coal fired power station?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, to the extent that they're able to be developed in Australia and they stack up and they comply with the environmental laws that exist in states and territories and receive the necessary approvals. I mean, legal investments in this country are still legal. This is my point. What we're seeking to do is enable people to do the things they want to do because they want to achieve this. Australians do want to achieve this. Australian businesses want to achieve this. Australian industry want to achieve this. Why? Because they know what's going on. There is, of course, a very significant environmental and important environmental objective in what we're doing. But there is also a very strong economic imperative for our country. There will be significant investment that will find its way into these technologies over the next 30 years, and I'm not going to put a blockage on that. What I'm doing today is removing any blockage to that and saying we're going to do this. And if you want to do this with us, then we're the place you want to do it. Because Australia, particularly when it comes to hydrogen, is seen as the best, if not the best, the best, I would argue we are, opportunity to develop that technology and that is what will get us there. So thank you very much. There'll be other opportunities down the track, but I appreciate your attention today.
Virtual Remarks, ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2021
25 October 2021
PRIME MINSTER: G’day everyone, from Australia. I’m pleased to be joining the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
I thank our hosts and recognise His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, the Guest of Honour.
Australia enjoys a close friendship with Brunei, and I really want to thank His Majesty the Sultan for his steady leadership at this very difficult time.
I had the opportunity to thank His Majesty personally recently in one of our recent calls.
Sadly, the pandemic has kept us apart again this year.
Yet the relationships between our governments, businesses and people - they’re as strong as ever.
During this time of uncertainty, we do stand together - as partners - in facing the economic, health and environmental challenges facing our world, and especially our region.
ASEAN is a long-time, valued partner of Australia.
Our futures are intertwined.
Your growth underpins our prosperity.
Your stability is fundamental to our own.
And our enduring relationship is critical to an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific region.
I am here to affirm that Australia strongly supports ASEAN’s centrality.
ASEAN and its forums are an essential pillar of our engagement with the Indo-Pacific.
Our interests align closely with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Our partnership with ASEAN is one that we are always seeking to strengthen.
And we want our businesses to invest in the region with confidence, and for yours to do the same here in Australia.
Today, I will speak briefly about our partnership and how we are responding to the health, economic and environmental challenges we collectively face.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of what we can achieve when we work together.
We all know that the way forward from here is vaccines.
Access to safe and effective vaccines is the highest priority for Indo-Pacific nations.
And Australia is stepping up to help our friends, stand with them, our neighbours, and those in need.
Together with our Quad partners - the United States, India and Japan - we have pledged to donate at least 1.2 billion vaccine doses globally.
And Australia has committed 60 million doses to the Indo-Pacific by the end of 2022.
Already, we’ve delivered two million doses directly to Southeast Asia, and we expect to share millions and millions more by the end of this year.
We’ve also contributed $130 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which so far has delivered over 33 million doses to Southeast Asia.
We’ve committed $21 million to support the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases.
And we’re also combatting vaccine misinformation, we’re training health workers, we’re providing much-needed medical equipment and expertise across Southeast Asia.
These investments are an addition to the $500 million to support new security, economic and development cooperation with Southeast Asia, which I announced at the ASEAN-Australia Summit last year.
And we’re working towards safely restoring international travel, which will be vital for reinvigorating all of our economies.
We all want our economies to rebound strongly from COVID-19.
And we all know that this can be accelerated through trade and investment under an open, rules-based international system.
This makes agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, more important than ever.
These agreements bring together the shared economic weight of ASEAN and the region’s other major economies.
Through our $46 million Australia’s Regional Trade for Development and our Digital Standards Initiatives, we are working with ASEAN to support implementation of RCEP, including by bringing a larger focus to e-commerce and digital trade across the region.
We are also working bilaterally to forge new agreements and deepen existing arrangements with regional partners such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore, to boost two way trade and open up new frontiers in the green economy.
This is a vibrant and dynamic region, and we want to ensure the opportunities and benefits of trade continue to flow unimpeded, and that supply chains remain open and connected.
At the same time, we’re also very focused on the global challenge of climate change and the world’s transition to a new energy economy.
We know reducing emissions - domestically and internationally - will require practical, scalable and commercially viable technologies.
And that’s why we are making major investments to drive our energy transition, including around $20 billion to commercialise promising new technologies like clean hydrogen, green steel, long-duration energy storage and carbon capture.
We expect this will leverage some $80 billion in total investment by 2030.
And this will help drive our energy transition.
And it will help our friends and neighbours too - including our ASEAN nations - to transition to secure and affordable low-emissions technologies that can drive development and jobs within the ASEAN region.
As part of this work, we’ve agreed to pool the collective resources and expertise of Quad partners - the United States, Japan and India - to work with other Indo-Pacific partners to build the reliable and resilient supply chains needed to support the region’s energy transition.
And I look forward to inviting your best and brightest clean energy experts and minds to Australia’s Clean Energy Summit in early 2022.
I want to assure you Australia is embracing the opportunities of the new energy economy, as the world accelerates its pursuit of net-zero emissions.
And, today, we join ASEAN member countries in looking to the future with great optimism, confident that together we can meet the challenges before us all.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
22 October 2021
MR ALAN JOYCE AC, CEO OF QANTAS: It's great to have you all here at Hangar 96. We have a Qantas 787 behind us and it's great to welcome all the Qantas staff that are here today to hear what is, for us, probably the biggest and the best news that we have had in two years. We have gone through an unbelievable 20 months, so it's really great that we have the staff, the aircraft, our engineers, our pilots, our cabin crew here to hear this amazing news. I'm also very pleased to have the Prime Minister of Australia and the Premier of New South Wales. This is big news for the country and it's also big news for New South Wales in particular. As I said, this 20 months is probably the darkest period in Qantas' 100 year history. It's meant that we've had to ground aircraft, stand down people and restructure the business. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's very clear that because Australians have rolled up their sleeves and taken the jab, we can see that light. We're getting more aircraft back in the air. We're starting more international operations and very importantly, we're getting more of our people back to work.
In 10 days’ time, one of these 787s will depart Sydney and go to Darwin on its way London. That's the first time since March of last year that Qantas has operated long haul international regular services. And it's very fitting that in the final days of our 100th birthday that we start to count the kangaroo route again. A route that's defined Qantas for nearly 60-70 years. And a few days later, we have a flight going from Sydney to Los Angeles. Before COVID, Qantas was the largest international carrier operating in and out of Los Angeles. So having that starting again is a great step on our recovery back, to a post-COVID world. And all of this is possible because of the federal government's announcement that on the 1st of November, we'll start opening our borders again. And the New South Wales announcement that Australians fully vaccinated do not have to do quarantine in this State. And there has been a phenomenal reaction that we've seen to it. First of all, we've now moved those flights earlier because of that, and we've added 20 flights to London in particular. And demand has been massive. In a few hours, a large number of those flights sold out. There's extremely strong demand for people wanting to get back into Australia for Christmas. We've also seen now, of four of the last five weeks that Qantas's sales are bigger on the international than they have been on domestic. That hasn't happened since COVID began. And our frequent flyers have reacted unbelievably well to these announcements. Last Tuesday was the biggest day of redemptions in Qantas's history. Half a billion points were used for people to travel.
So it is very clear, there is pent up demand. There's massive demand for Australians wanting to see their family and relatives. There's massive demand for loved ones wanting to get together for Christmas. There's massive demand for people wanting to take that holiday, that they've been looking forward to for nearly two years. And the result of that demand, we are making a few announcements today that are amazingly positive for our people, amazingly positive for our customers. First of all, we're announcing that our flagship aircraft the A380 will come forward and the first one will arrive back in Australia on the 25th of December, a great Christmas present for our people. We will have a second one in place so that by April we can start Sydney-LA again, a daily service with the A380. Now, only three months ago we were planning to keep those aircraft in the desert until December 20. That's how fast things are moving and how optimistic we are to meet the demand, that we're bringing two of them forward into April of next year, one of them before Christmas, for training and crew.
Secondly, we're announcing that we're bringing forward the start date of five important markets. We're bringing Singapore operations from Sydney, forward to the end of November. We're bringing forward services to Fiji to early December. And we're bringing forward services to South Africa, to Jo'burg to early January. And to Phuket and Bangkok to middle of January. Some of those services are being brought forward by over three months. Again because we expect there is significant demand for it. And we are in dialogue with the Indonesian government and the opening of Bali for Australians that are fully vaccinated. So that you don't have to go into quarantine. Jetstar was the largest carrier operating into Bali. Australians were the largest visitors before COVID. And it'll be phenomenal news for our Jetstar people, if we can operate into Bali before Christmas and we're working with the Indonesian Government to try and do that.
We're also, very importantly, announcing that we're starting a new service from Sydney to Darwin to Delhi. This is the first time in 10 years that Qantas has gone back into the Indian market. We have been used to flying into India over the last few months, on behalf of the Australian government we've done 60 repat flights. I'd like in particular to thank our crew who are here today, a lot of them have been doing a massive amount of repat flights. Some of our crew have been continuously in quarantine. They have been separated from their families to allow Australian families to get together, to allow vulnerable Australians to get back to into the country. And talking to them earlier, they're extremely excited that they have the opportunity to fly to Delhi on a regular basis, and that service will start in early December.
We're also talking to Boeing about bringing forward three brand new aircraft [inaudible] and try to bring them forward to April of next year, which will grow our 787 fleet to allow us to do even more flying, but probably the most important part of the announcement we're making today is the implications this has for our people. We believe that domestic borders will be opened up. We've seen announcements from Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, and that gives us confidence to get to a hundred percent of pre-COVID levels domestically in January and up to 120 percent of pre-COVID levels by April. So we're proud to announce today that all of our domestic crews that have been stood down, 5,000 people, will be back at work in early December. Great news for them and their families. And the 6,000 international crew, some of which have been stood down since last March, will also be given the opportunity to work for us and start working again in early December. We will need the A380 crew back to do the training needed to get the operation up and running.
And again, I would say all of this is possible because of what the state and federal government have done. And in particular, I want to thank the federal government and the Prime Minister for the assistance packages that they've given our people. JobKeeper and then the IAS package, which has allowed those international employees to remain connected with Qantas. It's allowed them to retain that skill set. It's allowed us to really activate these aircraft earlier than we would have otherwise, if we had of lost those employees. So thank you Prime Minister for that amazing programme that's got us through this. And can I thank both of you for your leadership in opening up the borders and thank the Premier of New South Wales in particular for moving to what every other global city in the world has moved to, which is that there's no quarantine for vaccinated passengers coming in, that has given New South Wales a leading advantage and that has made New South Wales our gateway to the world. We hope that the other states will follow soon so that we can start operations out of those states internationally, like the commitment here to New South Wales. So again, thank you for being here today. I'm really pleased for our people that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I'm really pleased for our customers that they can welcome back international travel and a significant amount of international travel from November. And I am going to hand over to the Prime Minister to make a few comments. Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Alan. And to the Premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perrottet, it is great to be here with you mate. This is a wonderful day. Australia is ready for take-off. You can see it all around us. You can see the staff readying themselves. The ground crew have been doing the work they need to do, the maintenance teams. And we're ready for take-off. I want to thank in particular the Premier of New South Wales for the decision they've taken, working together with the federal government to bring us to this very important day.
But I've got to tell you. The ground staff, the ground crew that is really getting Australia to take off today is the Australian people, who have gone out there and kept their part of the deal and have been getting vaccinated. Australia is en route to be one of the most vaccinated countries in the world and here in New South Wales, as well as in the ACT and Victoria charging in behind as well. We are seeing those vaccination rates continue to rise. The national plan was all about opening up Australia safely so we can remain safely open. And that's what we're seeing here today. And that means planes get back in the sky. It means people go and get their hair cut again, as I'm sure they're doing in large numbers today, down in Melbourne and across Victoria. It means that families are coming together again. It means kids are going back to school. It means the reunification of our country, which I know we have all been so keen to see. And that begins with this and that begins with the decisions that have been taken here by the New South Wales Government, which I have no doubt will be quickly followed by those in other states, as we're already seeing in Victoria today. The Premier of Victoria today will be making some further announcements and I'm looking forward to that. I know the Premier of Tasmania will be making further announcements today and I'm looking forward to those. I won't pre-empt those other than to say that the national plan is working. Australia is coming together. And we realise the great efforts of the Australian people in rolling up their sleeves, so we can move forward together and re-engage.
And one of the biggest achievements that will flow from that is people will be back in work, businesses will be open again and here at Qantas, who've done such an extraordinary job as well as Virgin and other airlines in finding their way through what has been an incredibly difficult time. And I want to pay credit to you Alan, and to Richard as chair of the board and the whole team here at Qantas and Jetstar, for the amazing job you've done in keeping your team together. Because one of the things we always knew going through this pandemic, that this day would come and we had to be ready for this day. And that means our planes had to be ready for take-off. It meant that our industries had to be ready to open again and to move forward again. That's what JobKeeper was about. That's what the Commonwealth Disaster Payment was all about. That's what the business support package, that we did together here with the New South Wales Government, which the Treasurer-then and Premier now, and I together with Treasurer Frydenberg and the former Premier put together to keep Australian businesses and New South Wales businesses ready to go. So we have prepared for this day. Australians have prepared for this day and I'm looking forward to people being able to come back to Australia and leaving Australia as well and enjoying the things they did before.
One last point I'd make before handing over to the Premier is this. We are in the final stages of completing an arrangement with the Singapore government. I was in a position, as you know, some months ago, I met with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Prime Minister Lee in Singapore, to set up a new arrangement which will see our borders open more quickly to Singapore. We anticipate that being able to be achieved within the next week or so as we would open up to more visa class holders coming out of Singapore. We will see that occur, those ports here in Australia will be open the same way as they are here in Sydney, and we would expect to see that align pretty much with the timetable that Qantas has announced today regarding when they'll have flights to Singapore. So that's another further example of how we're taking this agenda forward. How we're taking Australia, we're opening up.
To all those who are down there in Victoria today. Enjoy the day. It's going to be tremendous being reunited again and doing all the things you've been looking forward to doing. You've worked so hard for that, as they have here in New South Wales, in the ACT and together the country will open safely and stay safely open. And the person who has made such a huge contribution to us achieving that and following the national plan, is the Premier of New South Wales, Dom Perrottet.
PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES THE HON. DOMINIC PERROTTET: Thank you, Scott. It's great to be here with the Prime Minister and with Alan Joyce. Today is a very exciting day for our State and I think it's very much a turning point in the pandemic. And this is all about providing hope and instilling confidence right across our State. The changes that we made recently in relation to hotel quarantine, by removing that for fully vaccinated people globally. And [inaudible], with the federal government really shifts the direction for the State going forward. As the Prime Minister said, we want to open up as quickly as possible as safely as possible, and that's exactly what we're doing. To see the excitement of the crew here today, many, many of whom have been out of work for a long time, this goes back to March last year, and whilst it's been very difficult for businesses right across the state. The east, west, north and south, right across New South Wales, particularly aviation, has been hit hard. But today we're on the runway recovery here in New South Wales. To see thousands of jobs now come back, to meet the crew who for the first time will be back to work after taking on different jobs, doing different things. It's been an incredibly difficult time, but I think this announcement today from Alan and Qantas and the team, the Prime Minister speaking about Singapore really shows that there is hope. There is change coming, and it's a turning point in this pandemic.
We've always wanted, here in New South Wales, to strike that balance in terms of making sure people are safe and at the same time opening up safely. As the Prime Minister has said, when we do open up, to continue to remain open in a safe way. That's exactly what we're doing in this State. The recovery plan we announced yesterday, a $3 billion investment to make sure the economy continues to fire out of this pandemic. We don't just want to recover, we want to bounce back stronger here in our State. I am incredibly confident that's what will occur. Confidence here in New South Wales at the moment is sky high, we had some numbers out earlier this week that shows we have the highest business confidence in the history of our state, and that’s because we've got the measures right by releasing restrictions in the way that we have, I think has ensured that businesses, consumer confidence is there. You know, the people of New South Wales have made enormous sacrifices like everyone around the country. But I think today's a real turning point. We want fellow Australians who are returning home to come home as quickly as possible and get as many home for Christmas, what a great thing that would be. And then we’ll move on to tourism, international students - these are very important parts of the New South Wales economy, our largest two service exports that have been substantially [inaudible]. And, importantly, there are tens of thousands of people right across our state who rely on these important industries to provide for their families and put food on the table. So, it’s very pleasing to be here today. It’s an exciting day. It’s great to meet many of the crew and see how excited they are about coming back to work, about the state going forward. And I particularly want to thank Alan for working with the Government, because I think if you look through this period of time, it hasn't just been a partnership between the Commonwealth and State Government - working with industry, particularly the aviation industry, providing financial support to help get them through. As Alan has said, it's been probably, as he said, the darkest day, darkest days for Qantas in their entire history. That’s true for the entire aviation industry. But, today’s an important day as we get back on track on the runway to recovery.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES THE HON. DOMINIC PERROTTET: We’re working very closely with the Victorian Government in relation to that. In fact, I was speaking to Dan Andrews last night. We want to open up as quickly as possible, but the challenge that we have is that we’ve set that 1 November date for travel between city and regional New South Wales, as those vaccination rates increase. But I spoke to the Premier last night. We want to have that border open as quickly as possible, and we’ll have something to say about that shortly.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Yep. Sure. Yeah the Premier and I are absolutely on the same page. We spoke [inaudible]. You’re right, from the 1st of November if you are Australian residents, citizens and their immediate family, and I can confirm that that immediate family will include the parents of Australian residents and citizens. And I know, particularly in our Indian community, that has been a very important issue for them, and I know that will be welcome, and Alan and the team will be flying them here with these wonderful new services going through Darwin. That's great news for the Northern Territory as well.
And, so, the first step is Australians first, bringing Australians home. There are a large number of Australians who's been looking forward to this day, and I'm looking forward to them filling the planes coming back, so they can get home first. Then we will move, having done that safely and watching that closely, this is a, you know, the plan is about opening safely so we can remain safely open. And whether it's here in New South Wales or other states that move and adopt the same policies that the New South Wales Government has, we need to move in a pace the Australian public feel very comfortable with, we need to demonstrate that opening up those borders is being done safely, and they can feel confident, because I want us to open confidently. And I have no doubt that this will, this will be very successful, and that what will happen here in New South Wales and in other states, as we reopen, that will demonstrate to Australians that we can continue to do this. And that means that we'll be able to move then to students and business travellers, we’ll be able to move to skilled, more skilled migrants as well, and we’ll be able to move to international visitors. And I’m confident that because of the way we have prepared for this day, that that is very possible and very achievable before the end of the year to be getting to international visitors. And, of course, that with, that we can bring in the arrangements that I said with Singapore as a first, as a first mover on this, as we already have with New Zealand. Now, that's something I’ve flagged for some time. I’ve always said that Singapore, together with New Zealand, would be the places that we would start. But, I think this will move, once it's proven to be successful, I think quite quickly. I think it will. But I think, at the same time, Australians very much - they’ve worked very hard to get us to this point - and they will want us to proceed in a way that's cautious and careful, but very deliberate and very confident, and that’s what the Premier and I are doing. Dom may have something to add as well.
PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES THE HON. DOMINIC PERROTTET: Well, certainly, we join the Prime Minister here in New South Wales in reiterating those sentiments. We do want to open up as quickly as possible and have as many around the world come and see the best that New South Wales has to offer, particularly though it’s important, as the Prime Minister has said, that we have returning Australians come home first. That’s obviously a clear first priority. And here in New South Wales, where we can help other states in relation to that, we will. And we know that there are many people still stranded overseas, many fellow Australians who want to get home by Christmas, and I think the changes that we have made to our quarantine system here in New South Wales from 1 November facilitates that and will hopefully drive greater action around the country. So, these are very important [inaudible]. But, as the PM has said, this is a very exciting day for our state and for our country, because I think there’s a real step change. I think people now see the light at the end of the tunnel as we move through it. We don't want to go backwards. We want to open up and we want to bring the world back to, back to our great state - and as far as I'm concerned, the best city and the best state in the world - and the faster we can bring back tourism, international students to our state, the better. We want to do that in a safe way. But, the remarks of the Prime Minister in terms of the confidence this will bring I think is incredibly important. Ultimately, this is a confidence gain. Confidence got our state through last year - business confidence, consumer confidence - and confidence is going to get New South Wales through this pandemic and come out stronger the other side.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. Well, I have a message that we need to continue to boost those vaccination rates in Queensland and Western Australia. South Australia will go close, I think, 80 per cent today on their first dose. That's welcome. That shows that those vaccination rates are being pulled through in South Australia. We certainly saw that here and in Victoria that when those first dose rates hit those levels, that you soon saw the second dose rates come along. And, so, that's great news about South Australia. It's great news about Tasmania. Great news about the ACT and Victoria. And, so, you can see the National Plan falling into place, and the key thing to ensure that we open up right across the country is that those vaccination rates hit those scientific targets.
I mean, these are figures, these are targets that have been developed by one of the best scientific agencies in the world when it comes to pandemics - the Doherty Institute out of Melbourne. These 70 and 80 per cent targets have been determined because we know it gives the populations in those states the resilience to deal with the impact of the pandemic, and so we can live with the virus. So, the most important thing, to open up Queensland and Western Australia, is to get those vaccination rates higher, and they are not at those 70 and 80 per cent levels yet, and they must achieve those levels in order for us to move to those next step. That's what the National Plan provides for. In particular in Queensland, and indeed in South Australia as well, and I know there are a lot of people who are trying to get home to their own state, and we've got home quarantine now having begun in Queensland for some cases. I think we need to expand that very, very quickly, so we can get those those 8,000, I understand, Queenslanders home to Queensland. I mean, you've all seen those reunification scenes as people have got back over the border into Victoria. You know, it's a real Love Actually moment, sort of watching that happen. It was tremendous and we're going to see the same here in New South Wales. So, we're looking forward to that. But we've just got to stick to the National Plan. Australians are keeping their side of the deal, so all the governments around Australia, including my own, we've got to keep ours.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: The quarantine facilities that we've committed to as a Commonwealth are about the future, they're about the future, and they're for about quite acute cases, and the unvaccinated population that will be coming to Australia, they will still require the quarantine arrangements, as indeed is still the case here in New South Wales. And one of the days I will never forget during this pandemic was that first weekend when we had flights coming in from Wuhan, and these facilities that we're building - particularly in Melbourne, they'll be the first - will provide an ongoing capacity. This won't be the last pandemic we face. There will be other challenges in the future, and what those facilities are really about is future proofing for threats that may come. Now, I'm sure they'll provide some assistance as we go through the tail of this pandemic, but they will be important facilities for the future.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I can't quite hear you.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. The question’s, for those who couldn't hear it, was about what's happening in the UK and what that means for Australia. Well, we've been finding our own Australian way through this pandemic. That's why over 30,000 lives have been saved here during this pandemic, as opposed to what we've seen, terribly in other countries, sadly including the United Kingdom. We've had the strongest, if not one of the strongest economic performances of any country in the world going through the pandemic, because we've been going the Australian way. Now, with this Australian way, we have had scientific targets determined as to when we can take the steps to reopen the country - a first cautious step at 70 per cent and then a strong and bold step at 80 per cent, but with still low level controls being in place, even at that point, to ensure that we live with the virus safely. So, that's the approach we're taking. That is very different to the approach we saw in the United Kingdom. I was there when they were going through their process of freedom day. They opened up fully, fully when there were tens of thousands of cases a day and 67 per cent double vaccination rates. Now, that's not what we've done. We have taken a very different approach, because my objective with the National Plan, supported strongly by the premiers and chief ministers, is to open safely so we can remain safely open. That is the goal and that is what the plan delivers and that's what I would expect to occur.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm confident in the work that is being done and the strength of the vaccines and the take up of the vaccines here in Australia, which is going to go beyond 80 per cent. I mean, Australia is going to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, in the world. And, importantly, that vaccination rate has been strongest for those of the elderly population. I mean, our vaccination rates of the elderly population are extraordinary and they are those most at risk of the pandemic. And even with our Indigenous population, where there have been many challenges, when I was in the United States and speaking to the Vice President, she spoke to me about their success with the Native American population in the United States. Our vaccination rates for Indigenous population are the same as for the Native American population in the United States. There are challenges in vaccinating Indigenous populations around the world, and our performance is consistent with what we've seen there. And that comes from strong leadership within Indigenous communities and and the many programs that have been done, particularly in partnership with state governments out in the west of New South Wales, and just working together and getting the job done. So, I'm confident that the National Plan, scientifically-based, driven by the best possible medical expertise, backed in by the strong economic policies and support started at Commonwealth level and a, and a state level, means that Australia, the Australian way will continue to show the way when it comes to the management of the pandemic.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: The Cabinet will consider this matter next week, before I head off to Glasgow. And as yet, I expect to see some further information on that today, and we'll work through that and determine what we’ll take forward to Cabinet next week. The decision will be taken by Cabinet and I'll be in a position to announce that later in the week.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not familiar with those reports.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MR ALAN JOYCE AC, CEO OF QANTAS: No, because one of the things that's clear with the requirements now into New South Wales, that our crew based here won't have the requirements to go into quarantine. That's a big difference in allowing us to roster these flights and asking people to do them. Similarly, if the news out of Victoria today is going to be the same, that's a big benefit for the crews that are based there as well, because at the moment they do have to spend time in quarantine. They’re away from their families for months. As I said, they've been doing it to get vulnerable Aussies home. But what's great about what the Premier announced here, and hopefully we’ll get announcement out of Victoria that will end, and we can roster people without having to go into quarantine at this end. I will, I will say one of the great things the Prime Minister did was putting this program into place to keep people linked with us. So, I'm absolutely convinced that we won't lose pilots, engineers. There may be some cabin crew, when we ask people to come back, admit they may have gone on to other roles, that may be the case, but that, while it's a skilled job, that's one we can train up for fairly rapidly if we need to be. And we're very confident we'll get the vast bulk, the vast majority of our 22,000 people back to work, and that's what that program was designed to do. And I think it’s worked really well.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MR ALAN JOYCE AC, CEO OF QANTAS: Well, that depends on the Indonesian Government, because at the moment there are quarantine requirements for people to spend up to seven days in their hotel room, which nobody's going to go to Bali to do that. So, the Indonesian Government is looking out for Bali, which is highly vaccinated, of doing something similar to what's happened here in New South Wales. And, if that happens, when you're in the resort you can spend a couple of days there before you get access to the general community. We will do something very fast and very big. And, as I said, Jetstar got its operation into Bali, was the biggest operation of any airline - that's amazing - into Bali. They need Aussies there to rejuvenate their tourism industry, and we were happy to help with that. And we're hoping to get Aussies with the opportunity to get back in before Christmas. But, it will be in the early new year at the latest, I think, and we've got aircraft ready to go. We've got Jetstar pilots and cabin crew ready to operate it, which would be great news for them.
PRIME MINISTER: Just on, just on that Alan, I’ll just add, I'll be seeing President Widodo this, next weekend, after this one, at the G20. This has been a regular matter that's come up in our discussions over the course of the pandemic about when we can have travel to Indonesia going again. And I think that provides another opportunity, I think, to take up the issues. I mean, there's a lot of great discussion that's going backwards and forwards between officials, and all countries, as they're opening up, will be working through this. I mean, one of the, one of the most important things that we have to work through, particularly in November, which I know the Premier is aware of, and that is the international vaccination certificates. I mean, from Australia's point of view they’re rock solid - 320,000 have been downloaded, Alan, so that's 320,000 customers who are getting ready to go and excited about that. But we will go through that process of recognising other vaccination certificates and attestations coming into the country. And, so, over the course of November, with Australians coming home and residents and their immediate families, that will put the system through that important first round to ensure that that is all working as it should, and we can have the confidence about that before you take it to the next level.
But, just in closing, I want to, I want to thank Alan for you hosting the Premier and I today.
MR ALAN JOYCE AC, CEO OF QANTAS: Thank you for being here as well.
PRIME MINISTER: It's it's tremendous to be here with the New South Wales Premier. Dominic, it's great to be here together, seeing this happen together. Can I just indulge a second to say that to Qantas and New South Wales Government, and of course to my own team, as a member representing southern Sydney, where there's a lot of Qantas employees, a lot of airline employees, a lot of people who work here at this airport and other places, I want to thank them for their perseverance - 11,000 people coming back to work. That's what I call a take-off. Thanks very much everyone.
Ministerial Statement: Anniversary of National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
21 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker, I move that the House commemorate the anniversary of the National Apology to the Survivors and Victims of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
Mr Speaker, three years ago tomorrow, this Parliament - on behalf of all Australians - offered an unconditional apology to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
Our National Apologies have always been days of reckoning.
Those days of reckoning have become importantly part of our national story.
The Apology to the Stolen Generations - an apology for the racism, cruelties and injustices inflicted on our First Nations peoples.
The Apology for Forced Adoptions - an apology for the shame and the stigma and the brutality that forcibly split parents from their children.
The Apology to the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants - an apology for the unconscionable cruelties experienced by children removed from their families and placed in institutional homes.
The apologies reflect our acknowledgement of our failures as a people.
As a Liberal democratic people, we aren't afraid of our history.
Nor do we recoil from engaging with terrible truths.
Truth was always at the heart of the apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
And this is what the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, initiated by Prime Minister Gillard, was all about.
With thousands of people coming forward and sharing their painful experiences.
Bringing into the light what had been in the darkness.
Eight thousand women, men and young people recounted their abuse in private sessions with the Royal Commission.
A further 1,000 gave written accounts.
As well, the Royal Commission received 26,000 letters and emails, and 42,000 phone calls.
To the thousands who came forward and the thousands who could not, this Parliament said: we believe you and the country believes you.
Our apology didn’t - and cannot - undo our national failures.
Nor can an apology return a lost childhood, or repair the damage inflicted by the guilty or those who were complicit by their silence.
But it can be a marker on a path of healing.
And the start of a serious attempt by our nation to make amends.
Mr Speaker, today I am reporting further on those amends that we have been making.
The Royal Commission made 409 recommendations, of which 206 were directed wholly or partially at the Australian Government.
Eighty-four of those were about redress, and led to the establishment of the National Redress Scheme - now in its fourth year.
As of last month, over 6,200 payments have been made under the Scheme, amounting to almost $535 million.
The average payment is $85,000 - that’s $20,000 more than what the Royal Commission estimated.
In the Budget, we put aside more than $80 million over the next four years to progress improvements to the Redress Scheme, and I acknowledge the work of Minister Ruston in leading that initiative.
We’re committed to making it more trauma-informed, responsive, and utterly and ultimately, more survivor-focused.
In June this year, the Final Report of the second year review of the Scheme was published.
And the Government is taking initial action on 25 of its 38 recommendations.
We’ve made available advance payments of $10,000 to survivors who are older or terminally ill.
We’ve pushed institutions to meet their moral obligations to survivors.
Those that fail to participate have already been named and will become ineligible for future Commonwealth grants. As well, they risk being stripped of their charitable status.
The Government will keep working through the recommendations and release a final response early next year.
Another major commitment arising from the Royal Commission was the establishment of a National Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse.
I’m pleased to announce that the Blue Knot Foundation, along with its partners the Australian Childhood Foundation and the Healing Foundation, will establish and deliver the centre.
With $22.5 million in Commonwealth funding, the National Centre will build knowledge and expertise, and raise awareness of the impacts of child sexual abuse.
The voices of victims and survivors will shape their work.
It will build workforce capability, so that we can better respond to child and adult survivors.
It will conduct research and evaluation, and provide practical guides for responsive functions like help-seeking, advocacy and therapeutic treatment.
The National Centre will also undertake vital work preventing child sexual abuse happening in the future.
As well, we are also going to construct a National Memorial, here in our nation’s capital, to honour victims and survivors, and to remind ourselves of catastrophic failures to protect children, to make sure they do not happen again.
We expect the Memorial will be completed early next year, or next year, I should say, and serve as a place of remembrance, reflection, truth, healing and hope.
Mr Speaker, this anniversary always requires us to reckon with our past.
But it also draws our attention to the present and the very near future.
Child sexual abuse is happening now.
It’s happening online, in appalling numbers.
The shocking truth is online child sexual abuse was already increasing, and it has spiked in response to the COVID‑19 restrictions.
It makes our response all the more urgent and our resolve all the more unshakeable.
Our enforcement, intelligence and research agencies are tasked with tracking down child sexual abuse wherever it happens.
They work together on many fronts, with new and advanced technologies, to deter, disrupt and prevent abuse.
The Australian Federal Police, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and the Australian Border Force are on the frontlines.
Operation ARKSTONE is the largest ever domestic investigation into online child sexual abuse.
It continues to yield results, with more than 1,300 charges laid so far.
The Australian Institute of Criminology drives national research to better understand child sexual abuse.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission helps law enforcement agencies to respond to online child sexual abuse by linking data sets and using advanced analytics capabilities.
And AUSTRAC works with financial institutions to detect and disrupt payments for child abuse materials, including the disgusting practice of abuse that is livestreamed.
Since 2018, this partnership approach has resulted in an almost 400 per cent increase in reports of suspect financial activity around child exploitation.
AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force have collaborated to harden the Australian border to child sex offenders.
And our law enforcement agencies have partnered with the Philippines Financial Intelligence Unit to use information on people arrested overseas to identify previous unknown offenders based in Australia.
The Department of Home Affairs is building relationships with digital industry that prevent offenders from using online platforms to groom, exploit and abuse children, or share child abuse material.
These and other agencies are working together, and with state and territory partners, to respond to child sexual abuse.
And we continue to work with our Five Country partners to hold industry to account.
Mr Speaker, we cannot allow our digital environment to offer anonymity and impunity to offenders. It cannot shelter them.
Nor can we allow it to become a prohibitively hostile and hazardous place for children to be, since so much of their learning and experience depends on being able to enter it safely. All of our children.
Mr Speaker, next week is National Children’s Week.
A time to celebrate children’s achievements, and a call to all of us to uphold children’s right to enjoy their childhood.
Next week, we will launch the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse.
The National Strategy will be a 10-year whole-of-nation framework to establish a coordinated and consistent approach.
It will deliver ambitious and world-leading measures to prevent and respond to all forms of child sexual abuse.
In May, I announced a $146 million program, over those four years, for the National Strategy’s first phase - including close to $60 million worth of measures to be delivered by the Australian Federal Police.
We also committed close to $14 million to equip our intelligence, research and border protection agencies to disrupt the cash flow behind child sexual abuse, to prevent and disrupt live-streamed child sexual abuse, to intercept material and offenders at the border, and enhance our ability to identify offenders in the community.
We also committed over $27 million to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, expanding legal assistance to victims and survivors, and co-designing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing approaches.
The full National Strategy will include additional measures and further funding.
And my Government looks forward to working with the states and territories to deliver these reforms.
And finally, Mr Speaker, at the end of this year we will table the Government’s fourth Annual Progress Report against the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
These yearly reports, as well as the Royal Commission itself, and the Apology we commemorate today - they are all about accountability.
They are about confronting the deepest, darkest secrets in our past and, indeed, in our present.
Bringing that truth into the light.
Two years ago, on its first anniversary, we placed a parchment etched with the Apology’s words in the Members Hall.
Nearby are the apologies made to the Stolen Generations, the Forgotten Australians, to former Child Migrants and for the Forced Adoptions.
These items of ceremony and suffering sit in the symbolic heart of our Australian Parliament on public display, because that is where they belong.
As a remembrance of wrongs, and our willingness to right them.
They call us to own our stories, and indeed to make better ones.
And tomorrow as we mark this third anniversary, we commit ourselves again to honouring of these lives, and to the safety of all Australian children.
And Mr Speaker, I say to those who even today can’t get out of bed, still cannot face, and feel alone, you are not.
This Parliament has heard you, and each year and each day we will continue to remind you that you are heard, you are listened to, and that you are not alone, and our country understands what happens and our country wants to heal, and we want to help you heal.
But we know, even now, you are finding that incredibly difficult, and for that we can only say to you that you are very much here with us today, even if you cannot be.
And I want to conclude by offering one thanks, to the Member for Swan, Mr Speaker.
The Member for Swan is retiring at the next election.
There are many members in this place, in the Opposition ranks, Government ranks, for whom this has been quite a cause.
But the Member for Swan’s passion and determination and quiet achievement in this area has been truly extraordinary.
He has served his country admirably and I thank him very much for his own personal counsel to me on this most important of issues.
Press Conference - Kirribilli, NSW
15 October 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, good afternoon. I see everybody’s met Buddy. Today is an important day in the National Plan. Earlier this week, I wrote to all the premiers and chief ministers and asked them to advise me of where they are up to when it came to home quarantine, which would enable Australia to move to the next phase, more broadly, that would allow Australians to travel overseas and return if they are vaccinated, and to return, to return vaccinated, with no caps on their return. I’m very pleased that the New South Wales Government has advised, as you’ve learnt today, that they will be in a position to move to a no quarantine arrangement for people arriving back in Australia from the 1st of November, which enables us to be in a position to ensure that we can lift the caps for returning Australian citizens, residents and their families from the 1st of November into new South Wales. What this also means is that we will be allowing Australians, permanent residents and citizens and their families, to leave Australia from wherever they live in Australia and return, but obviously the capped arrangements in other states will continue because of the vaccination levels in those places and the arrangements they have in place in each of those states and territories.
So, this is further demonstration of Australians getting vaccinated is enabling them to do more and more and more. New South Wales is hitting 80 per cent double dose vaccination rates. Here in this city it is turning into one of the more vaccinated cities in the world today, and that is a great achievement for Australia, and in particular those right across Greater Sydney, and it’s been hard fought and hard won. And that’s why I welcome the fact that this is a further sign of the National Plan coming into effect and allowing Australians to start reclaiming so many of the things that have been taken from them throughout this pandemic.
I also want to note that at the National Security Committee earlier this week, where we considered these matters on Tuesday, we also agreed that we would be looking at expanding the definition of ‘immediate family’ to include the parents of Australian residents and citizens, and I know that will be very welcome news to Australians right across the country who are hoping to be reunited with their family members, their parents who are overseas. Now, in New South Wales’ case, that means that those family members will be able to come into Sydney if they are vaccinated and not have to quarantine, under the arrangements that the Premier has announced today. So, that is a welcome step forward.
I want to stress that for the other states and territories, and I have advised the premiers and chief ministers to this end, that this is about Australian residents and citizens first. The Commonwealth Government has made no decision to allow other visa holders - skilled visa holders, student visa holders, international visitors travelling under an ETA or other international visa arrangement, visa, visiting visa arrangement - to come into Australia under these arrangements. They are decisions for the Commonwealth Government, as the Premier and I know, and, but where we’re in a position to make that decision down the track, then obviously in New South Wales they will be able to do so, if they’re vaccinated, without having to quarantine.
So, I think that should provide some sense of assurance to those in other states that all we’re talking about now is Australian citizens, residents and their immediate families, which we’ll be looking to extend to the parents of those Australian citizens and residents. So, that’s good news. We're making good progress. We're looking forward to hitting 70 per cent national double dose vaccinations and, as we’ve particularly gone over the 80 per cent mark as well for single dose vaccinations right around the country.
A couple of other things quickly before we have the weather set in. The first of those is overnight I confirmed my attendance at the Glasgow Summit, which I'm looking forward to attending. It’s an important event. The Government will be finalising its position for me to take to that Summit prior to my departure over the next fortnight. We are working through those issues with our Cabinet and with our colleagues, and I look forward to those discussions concluding over the next couple of weeks. And I simply say to everyone that net zero was an outcome that I outlined at the beginning of this year, consistent with our Paris commitments. The challenge is not about the if and the when, the challenge is about the how. And I’m very focused on the how, because the global changes that are happening in our economy as a result of the response to climate change have a real impact, and they will have a real impact here in Australia. And the plan that I'm taking forward, together with my colleagues, is about ensuring that our regions are strong, that our regions’ jobs are not only protected, but they have opportunities for the future. It's not just about hitting net zero. That's an important environmental goal. But, what's important is that Australia's economy goes from strength to strength, and the livelihoods and the lives that Australians know, particularly in rural and regional areas, are able to go forward with hope and with confidence. And that's what my plan will be all about, and I look forward to furthering those discussions in the weeks ahead. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Did Dominic Perrottet consult you in his decision to remove not just hotel quarantine but home quarantine as well, he said, for Australians and international travellers?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, the Premier and I, and indeed prior to him becoming Premier and in earlier discussions I've had with ministers in the New South Wales Government, this has been a topic of discussion for for some time. And, so, I welcome the announcement today. It is consistent with the advice I have from my own Chief Medical Officer. And, so, we're looking forward to those arrangements coming into place.
As I, as I said, I'd written to all the premiers and chief ministers earlier this week, and also consistent with the decision of the National Security Committee, asking them to confirm the arrangements they would have, so we could make a decision about whether and when Australians would be able to travel overseas again and return. And the Premier wrote back to me today and confirmed that would be on 1st of November, and under those no quarantine arrangements for vaccinated Australians.
JOURNALIST: Does it concern you that they've made this decision on home quarantine so soon after only starting, only recently starting the home quarantine trial? Would you have liked that to run out a bit longer, before they made a call like this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're not opening up to everyone coming back to Australia at the moment. I want to be clear about that. We're going to take this forward in a staged and careful way, as we've done all of these things. It's for the Commonwealth Government, the Federal Government, to decide when the border opens and shuts at an international level, and we will do that. In the first instance, it will be for Australians, Australian residents and their families. We'll see how that goes and then we'll move to the other priorities, which I've already set out as being skilled migration, as well as students to Australia. And then we'll move on to the challenge of dealing with international visitors to Australia. So, everything all in good time. We're not rushing into this. We're taking it carefully, step by step. I welcome the decision in New South Wales. It's showing another strong step forward, and I think it enables us to progress.
JOURNALIST: Will unvaccinated Australians be able to come back?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a 210 cap per week in New South Wales for unvaccinated Australians to come back, which was confirmed to me by the New South Wales Government, and I'm looking forward to confirmation of those other numbers from other state premiers in response to my letter earlier this week.
JOURNALIST: We've got New South Wales opening up to the world. Western Australia is talking about keeping its border closed until next year. How sustainable is that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it all depends on the vaccination rates, and that's what the National Plan provides for. And when we reach 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates under the National Plan, that gives us the opportunity to take the next steps. Now, Western Australia is not at the stage of New South Wales yet, neither is any other state or territory. I'm looking forward to them getting to that level because that means they will then have those options that people in New South Wales will have from the 1st of November.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, could I book a flight to Bali on the 1st of November, and then come back in without quarantining?
PRIME MINISTER: Out of New South Wales, yes.
JOURNALIST: So, New South Wales wants international travellers and international students back from November 1. That won’t be able to happen?
PRIME MINISTER: No, the Federal Government is not opening it up to anything other than Australian citizens and residents and their immediate families. That is what will happen from the 1st of November in New South Wales, and indeed all around the country for Australians departing. To return to Australia, obviously they'd have to do that through Sydney or under the capped arrangements in other states and territories.
JOURNALIST: So, when will international travellers and international students be able to come back to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Not yet.
JOURNALIST: Was the Premier a little bit hasty, perhaps, in suggesting that tourists and other international travellers could be coming in from that time?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, what the Premier did today was advise me and announce today that when international students, when international travellers, when skilled migrants are permitted to return to Australia by the Commonwealth Government, then they will not be required to quarantine when they come. The Premier understands that that's a decision for the Commonwealth Government, not for the state governments. And when we believe that's the right decision to make, we'll make it at that time. I'm going to progress steadily, but at the same time, carefully, and I welcome this first step. I think it's a positive step.
JOURNALIST: Would you suggest other states abandon their home quarantine trials - South Australia, Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I think each state and territory will make their judgements about that. We’ll continue to support those trials. I think it's good to have a range of options that are being pursued by the states and territories. Remember, no state or territory is coming from the same place. They're all starting in different positions, with different rates of COVID in their states and territories. And, indeed, I understand today in Tasmania they're going into a very short lockdown. They're still in phase A. And it's a reminder, wherever you are in Australia, please get vaccinated.
JOURNALIST: Is there any reason to think that this could harm the opening of domestic borders, you know, might scare other state and territory leaders into not opening their borders, if New South Wales is welcoming people without quarantine?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe so. I don't think there's any justification for that, particularly as we are only extending this to Australian residents, citizens and their immediate families. It's not extending more broadly than that, which would obviously have a much greater volume. It is constrained to that volume of Australian citizen residents returning, which I'm sure all premiers and chief ministers want Australians to be able to come home. Well, I think the weather may be about to beat us … Last … Sure.
JOURNALIST: On Glasgow, will you be taking a concrete emissions target or a plan for a target?
PRIME MINISTER: Our position will be set out before I leave for Glasgow. Thanks very much, everyone.
Remarks, The Lodge Canberra, ACT
11 October 2021
Prime Minister: Today is a day so many have been looking forward to. A day when things we take for granted, we’ll celebrate. Being with family and friends, getting a haircut, grabbing a meal together, going to the pub and having a beer with your mates. These are things that across New South Wales and particularly in Sydney, people will be able to do again today and I know all around the country that will be true, particularly in Victoria and here in the ACT.
I want to thank Australians for the incredible job that they've done in getting vaccinated. Over the weekend, more than 400,000 vaccines were administered across the country. That is the biggest weekend we've had throughout the entire vaccination program and that tells me one thing: that Australians have been totally up for this the whole way through. They are getting the job done.
Whether you are in a state like New South Wales which is opening up today, a state like Victoria that soon will be, or over in the west or up in Queensland, where the impact of COVID has not been the same, but still we need those vaccines to ensure that when COVID inevitably comes, that in those states you will be able to continue on as you have. So let's keep going, Australia, with the vaccination program. To all those particularly in Sydney and across New South Wales today who are opening up today, enjoy the moment, enjoy it with your family and friends. I'm looking forward to seeing my family as well, having come out of this quarantine.
On the other big issues, though, we need to keep going ahead, whether it is protecting Australia’s national security or ensuring our economic recovery, because as we open up, the economy will bounce back strongly and those jobs will come back and people will be back in work and we will see that month after month after month, as we get more and more people back at work, back in jobs, back in the economy. But we also must deal with the big challenges. Addressing climate change is a challenge that we must do together. As Prime Minister, it is my job to bring people together on dealing with this big change. The world is moving into a new energy economy. We all know that. It is now a question of how not if, and how is how we can ensure that those communities right across rural and regional Australia can look at this change and understand that there are big opportunities and there is a way through.
My government is committed to ensuring that rural and regional Australia transitions to this new energy economy in the future stronger, with their jobs and their communities intact and they can look forward with confidence and they can plan for the future with confidence. We've got to come together on this issue. My government will come together on this issue. The country will come together on this issue and we will tackle this challenge, just like we have tackled the challenges already before us. Thanks, everyone.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
1 April 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Afternoon, everyone. Australia has cleared a very important hurdle in our fight against COVID-19. With New South Wales passing the 70 per cent double vaccination rate threshold, as set out in the National Plan, we have passed the first major milestone for Australians to start getting their lives back. We have worked so hard to save lives. We have worked so hard to save livelihoods. Indeed, in New South Wales, just over the course of this latest lockdown, more than $10 billion of support provided by the Commonwealth Government to see those in New South Wales through, just as we're doing right now in Victoria and as we're doing here in the ACT, and as we've done even in those states and territories that haven't had lockdowns but their businesses have been affected. We've been able to provide that economic support. Saving lives, saving livelihoods, and now Australians are beginning to get their lives back.
The things that have been taken from them because of this awful pandemic, the ability of Australians to come together, Australians to spend time with one another, to do business, to be together with family, to go to weddings, to go to funerals. All of these times so precious, and these times now being restored, because of the vaccination rates hitting the levels that we've needed them to, as has been set out in the scientific work that has been done by the Doherty Institute.
I particularly want to say to all those doctors and pharmacists in New South Wales, and indeed, right across the country, that that 70 per cent double vaccination rate would not have been achieved without their fine work. Two-thirds of the vaccinations that have been delivered in New South Wales has been delivered under that program by the Commonwealth, through the pharmacists, and through, in particular, the GPs, who really did that heavy lifting with AstraZeneca over the many months that ensured that New South Wales can see the day they're seeing today, and, importantly, can see the day that they will see on Monday.
On Monday, New South Wales will be able to begin the process of opening safely, and stay safely open. That's what’s different this time. That's what the National Plan is about. When you hit those vaccination rates, you can open with certainty again, and you can open safely with certainty again, and you can stay open. So, you can make your plans, you can make your bookings, you can go back to having that certainty about what's happening weeks and months from now.
And I want this to be a sign of hope to the rest of the country, particularly those in Victoria who I'm mindful of today, and here in the ACT, where the lockdowns continue. But, what it does show is that those vaccinations have enabled New South Wales to now get to that point where the light at the end of that tunnel is now very, very close. And that will be true for Victoria, it will be true for the ACT as well, as they go towards these marks.
I commend, of course, the governments in New South Wales and Victoria and ACT for setting out their road map, for setting out the specifics of what people can expect, and I want to encourage them more down that path. The deal that we had with Australians, if they roll up their sleeves, then we will roll up ours, in ensuring that they can reclaim the things that are so important to them, and that’s what we’re now seeing as a result of that vaccination program.
I also want to thank the Polish Government, the UK Government, for the incredibly important role, and the Government of Singapore, that they played, particularly in this last month. Those additional doses that we were able to secure and accelerate those vaccination rates, particularly those Polish doses early, that enabled New South Wales to target those areas most affected by the outbreak, and indeed, ensures that they can see the day that they will now see on Monday. And I thank all of those who were involved in that important work.
But, it is hope for the other states and territories. It does show that there is a path ahead. It does provide them with encouragement. And I also want to say to those states that haven't had the same COVID experience as New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT, that you don't need to have that experience if we can continue to see those vaccination rates rising. That's the motive. That's the incentive. Sure, in many states around the country they are not living under the harsh and strict conditions that we've seen in New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT. But, they can avoid those outcomes, because COVID will certainly come. There's no avoiding that. And everybody understands that. There's no part of the world where people don't understand, that under the Delta strain, is it eventually comes. We're seeing that in New Zealand, we’ve seen it here in, in the eastern states. And it will come. But, when that day comes, when your vaccination rates are at those 70 and particularly 80 per cent levels, that means you'll be able to withstand it. And those vaccinations not only give you an inoculation against serious disease and illness, but they also can give you an inoculation as a state against the need for those harsh lockdowns.
And, so, I would encourage those right around the country to go and get vaccinated. Let's hit those marks. It's great to see now that in other states, particularly in WA and in Queensland, they are now over 50 per cent double vaccination rates. That's very, very good news. And it's a lot harder in those states, because there isn't the immediate urgency that we're seeing in the eastern states, because of the lockdowns. Of course, that's going to provide a greater motivation and incentive for people to get vaccinated. But, in those other states, they're continuing to press on, and that's why I continue to be impressed with what’s happening in Tasmania, where their vaccination rates are high, but yet their COVID rates are very, very low.
So, now, 81 per cent of over 16s, right around the country, are now first dose vaccinated, just under 60 per cent second dose. Ninety-five per cent of over 70s first dose, 81 per cent second dose. And for over 50s, 90 per cent first dose, just under 75 per cent second dose. We will hit 30 million doses of the vaccine being administered this week. And we'll do that now in what is essentially the first week of October. What that shows is the problems and challenges that we've had, we've addressed, we’ve fixed. And we’ve turned it around and we're in the home stretch, and we're moving towards that line, and then we need to keep going beyond it. Because I believe Australia can achieve much higher vaccination rates than the 70 and 80 per cent that we've set out in the National Plan, and that will only give us greater confidence and enable us to move even more quickly as we open the country up.
I want to see Australians all reunited once again. I'm sure we all want that. I have no doubt that all premiers and chief ministers around the country want to see that as well. So, we need to keep setting out that path ahead, moving forward with confidence, and giving people that hope that the vaccine program is giving them. We can't be complacent. We need to move in a safe way. And the National Plan does set out a safe path, based on the best possible medical and health advice and the best scientific research, as has been done by the Doherty Institute.
To all those still in lockdown, you can look at this day and say, we'll be there soon, and I know you will be. It won't be long. And as the days get warmer, then I think Australia's prospects will continue to get brighter.
And, so, I want to thank all of Australians for the tremendous work that you’ve done in getting us to this point. There's more to do, there's a lot of hope ahead, and I want us to keep pressing towards that. But, to everybody in New South Wales, enjoy, enjoy the moment on Monday, but be careful, continue to remain safe, and COVID safe, and we'll continue to press forward, and I have no doubt the rest of the country will follow. Phil.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a couple of questions. First on COVID, with Dominic Perrottet, you know, accelerating the reopening in New South Wales, do you have any concerns they may get a little ahead of themselves, and as we’ve seen in Singapore and places, may have to, you know, row back again in future weeks? And, separately and secondly on on climate change. That the concerns Keith Pitt’s raised about the need to keep financing the resources sector during the transition. Do you have any views on how that should be done, and what do you think of his view that the Government should step in as a last resort lender?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me speak to the first point, and that is, I've, you know, been in pretty regular contact with the new Premier, just as I used to be with Premier Berejiklian. And Dom and I were discussing this just the other night. And they are acting as they always have in New South Wales, consistent with the health advice that has been provided to them. I mean, we're still at 70 per cent. I think the measures that have been taken still remain cautious. I mean, you still can't go to church and sing and all of these sorts of things. There's still the, what I’d call, the low to medium level public health safety, social measures, I should say, that are in place. Their test, trace, isolate and quarantine measures, they're still in place. And, all of that combined, I think provides the protection, which the Doherty modelling says is necessary. So, I think they're moving in step with that advice, and that's clearly what they're receiving from the Chief Health Officer in New South Wales. But, you know, people are right to say, look, it's great to have these, but let's be careful with them. Let's not get too excited too quick. There's still a long way to go. And I have no doubt that the New South Wales Government will proceed safely and cautiously. But, they won't be holding back, at the same time, the important freedoms that I think people have worked hard to achieve.
On the other issue, look, we're working through those issues as the Government at the moment, and we'll do that, you know, within our Cabinet process, and that's the right place to have those discussions. But, I will say this, you know, I've been very clear about our position when it comes to transitioning to the new energy economy. I believe Australia can do this, and ensure that the regions excel, that the regions actually exceed their current prospects. And that is done by embracing a new energy economy and the technology that is needed to support that. And that's what our plan’s about. And, so, I’ll be working that through as a Government over the next few weeks, obviously in the lead-up to COP26, and I'm looking forward to what has already been, I think, a very good faith process. We want the best for Australia. We want the best for our regions. We want the best for our environment, and we want to do the right thing by the world, as we always have. Australia meets and beats its commitments. We meet and beat. That’s what we do on climate. We're 20 per cent more down on our 2005 emissions. That is a record that many countries aspire to. We’ve already achieved it and, of course, we’ve got a lot more to do.
JOURNALIST: PM, just on climate change. The UK High Commissioner has said that the global benchmark that she would like to see Australia meet, for the 2030 target, between 40 to 50 per cent. You say that we're going to meet and beat. Can you go to COP with a target like that? And, secondly, Keith Pitt has said that that sort of comment, those sorts of comments from the High Commissioner is gratuitous. Do you believe, do you agree with that?
PRIME MINISTER: Australian will set our commitments in accordance with Australia’s national interests and our, our responsibilities. We always have. And they’ll be set by Australians, they’ll be set by the Australian Cabinet, for Australian needs, and we'll make our Australian way. I don't propose to make any suggestions as to what other countries should be doing. What I understand is this is a global challenge, and that unless we're all working together on this, unless we're seeing the technological change that is needed, particularly in developing countries, as former Senator Kerry and former Secretary Kerry said quite plainly, when he first went into the role of Special Envoy, the United States could reduce their emissions to zero. But, if China continued on the direction they're on, it would make no difference. And, so, what’s important, as I outlined at the Quad meeting, is that we achieve this new energy economy, new energy technology transformation. That's what will change the world. When we see in places like Australia, but also in Indonesia, in Malaysia, in Vietnam, in India, when we see the technology transformation, and hydrogen has such a huge role to play in that, that's why we’re so focused on it, then that’s when you'll see the global issues of climate change addressed. We can all go to meetings. But, the thing that will actually change it is the transformation delivered by new technologies. And that's what Australia is focused on.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] People are still doing it tough. The RBA says the economic rebound won't be as quick as last time. So, what sort of financial, additional financial support will you provide businesses and workers to smooth the transition from lockdown to reopening?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, sure, as you know, the COVID Disaster Payment, that continues now, on Monday that continues, while we're at 70 per cent and up to 80 per cent levels. And the only thing that changes is, following this Sunday, you just need to reapply each week, because as the weeks go on, and as the businesses open up again in New South Wales, then people will get back to work, and people want to be working, not getting COVID Disaster Payments. They want to be at work where they'll earn even more. And so, they’ll reapply over the next few weeks, and that support will be maintained at its existing level in the weeks ahead in New South Wales. Those payments, once we hit 80 per cent, the following week after that occurs, then they will require people to reapply again. It’ll fall to $450 and in the first week, and then [inaudible] after that, and I'll get to business in a second. So, that is a pretty, we're talking about a clear path there that people can understand. It isn’t immediate, it happens over time. And, so, I think people can have some confidence. And if they're in the position where they have to move to some other form of support, such as JobSeeker, then there is time for them to make that translation across into that level of support as well, if they need that on an ongoing basis.
Now, for businesses, when the state's vaccination rate reaches 70 per cent, JobSaver payments, as they're called in New South Wales, will taper from the current payment, equivalent to around 40 per cent of weekly payroll, to 30 per cent of weekly payroll. We anticipate that to occur on the 10th of October, that's my advice, until the 23rd of October, and then the minimum and maximum weekly payments for businesses will be reduced by 25 per cent to $1,125, and 70, and up to $75,000 weekly, and grants to be around 30 per cent of the payroll. And that grant for sole traders will reduce to $750.
Now, when you get to 80 per cent, the Commonwealth's contribution to the JobSaver program, that will cease, in line with the National Plan and the arrangements we've entered into with the New South Wales Government. We anticipate that probably by the end of this month, and then the New South Wales Government will make further decisions about its ongoing support.
I remind you, though, on business supports, the National Cabinet agreement was that the Commonwealth would do the individual payments, and the states would cover all business payments. That was the agreement. Now, we went further than that. We went further to cover 50 per cent of the costs of bespoke programs that were put in place in New South Wales and Victoria, here in the ACT, and, indeed, in other states that that haven't had lockdowns, but where they've been impacted by the significant lockdowns in the south-eastern states. So, the Commonwealth has done the big, heavy lifting on economic supports to see Australians and Australian businesses through, and that's why we want to see Australians now not be reliant on the economic supports of Government, but on the economic efforts of their own businesses and their own enterprise. That's what the future looks like with living with COVID, to move away from a dependence on Government to the self-dependence of the success of their own businesses and their own enterprises. David.
JOURNALIST: On hospitals, Prime Minister. The AMA has raised concerns that hospitals will be overwhelmed from higher case numbers, higher admissions. First of all, are you seeing any advice that there is that kind of prospect of hospitals being overwhelmed and related to that, the policies in some regions and some states are for COVID, people with COVID to go first to hospitals. Others are taking a approach of creating them at home and community care. Do you think it's time for the approach to change across all states so that people don't go first to hospital?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've been working with the states and territories for months and months and months on this, and there's been great work done together with Doherty, which is understanding the peak pressures on hospitals at a state wide level. When things you get down to a regional level, obviously there's going to be differences beyond that which states are better placed to understand. But what we've seen in New South Wales is the modelling where they were basing decisions on surge needs in New South Wales hospitals, those worst case scenarios were not realised, and in fact, the demand is pitched below that. Now it's better to be prepared for what might be worse and hope for the best. And in New South Wales, I think we've seen more of that outcome and the work that needs to be done, and frankly, should have been done for the last 18 months, in many cases, I believe it has. I mean, Victoria has a strong plan for dealing with the surge in their hospitals, and they're working to that plan and that's working well. That doesn't mean there won't be stresses on the system. Of course there will, but that the plans that we've seen put in place and the information that we've received from the health departments around the country through the process that we have under Professor Murphy is demonstrating that to date then that planning is well in place. Now we're seeing stresses on hospital systems in other states, in the territories, which have nothing to do with COVID. I mean, New South Wales and Victoria have been able to plan for the COVID surge, they're in the middle of it. They have the same funding arrangements as any other state and territory, but they're dealing with it. So this isn't about funding. This is about management of hospital systems. States must run their hospital systems well. They must prepare for them. And I want to commend the way that New South Wales and Victoria and to be fair, the ACT, has been working through those challenges and ensuring that they can prepare for what's coming. But you've got to prepare for what's coming and they are doing that and all states and territories should be. The pandemic has been running a long time now, and but I say this. On the vaccines, that's why it's so important for those states that have not yet been hit by large COVID outbreaks, the higher your vaccination rate is, then the less of an impact there's going to be on your hospital system. And that is probably the single most important thing that anyone can do in any state and territory to ensure there is lesser impact on their hospital system from COVID. And that is to get vaccinated. Where there's no cases, or whether there's 500 cases, or indeed 1,500 cases a day. The best thing you can do to support nurses and all those working in hospitals is to get vaccinated.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister [inaudible], deal with Australians, when you have Tasmania saying it won't reopen till 90 per cent, WA saying a similar thing, Queensland not putting a number on it, even here in the ACT, where the vaccination rate is comparable to New South Wales, the reopening is much slower. Have those states and territory leaders broken that deal with Australians by not sticking to the national plan at 70 and 80 per cent vaccination?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let's see. Let's just see what happens. Let's just see what happens on all of that. I give New South Wales the credit for honouring the deal that they've had with their, with their citizens. It's been a long lockdown. My family's been in it. I've been back and forwards into lockdown and quarantine, and I'm still in quarantine now. So I have some sense, not the same sense as how others are dealing with. I don't pretend to that, but it's been a long road, a very long road. And you know, people expect that when they put that effort in, that the government will keep its side of the deal. Now, you have to open safely and you have to remain safely open. There's no doubt about that. All states are starting from a different place, and I respect that. Now, Western Australia in particular, I'd say, is in a quite a different situation to the rest of the country. It always is. That's the nature of its geography and the nature of its economy, and I understand that. But that said, you know, in what will be probably about a month's time, we will see people in Sydney travelling again overseas. We will see the amount of time, I believe that you have to spend in quarantine, fall. I welcome the fact that Queensland is now moving towards home quarantine. That's great. Things are moving fast. So I note what's being said. But at the same time, I think Australians will want their lives back and I think they'll make that pretty clear.
JOURNALIST: France. The French are going to be sending back their Ambassador. Now, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that to get out of this crisis, as he describes it, there will have to be strong acts instead of just words. Are you planning any joint activity with France in the region to kind of heal wounds? And on Taiwan, what message did Tony Abbott take to the Taiwanese Government, if any, on behalf of your Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Tony is in Taiwan as a private citizen, and I didn't have any conversation with him before that. Tony has served as my envoy to India, and so when he went to India, we obviously spoke. But Tony is there as a private citizen. So what he said and what messages he passed on, he passed on in that capacity. In relation to the other matter that you raise, I welcome the fact that the ambassador will be returning to Australia. I think that's a good thing and I think that was always going to happen after the consultations that were had and look forward to taking the relationship forward. It's not a matter, frankly, of what additional things we're putting on our cooperation. We already have cooperation. See, the Australia-France relationship is bigger than a contract. And France's presence and significance and influence in the Indo-Pacific isn't about a contract. It's about the fact that they have an actual presence here in the Indo-Pacific, that they have a long standing commitment and work with Australia across a whole range of different issues. I mean, we have other defence contracts with France. We have $32 billion worth of contracts with French, not just French, but European contractors. So France already has a significant and long standing role and future here, and we welcome that. So it's a matter of basically picking up on all the things we were working on and continuing on with them because they're very significant. They're wide ranging. They're very much in our interests and France's interests and we look forward to just getting on with that job.
JOURNALIST: Dominic Perrottet, has he spoken to you about what he calls an unacceptable GST distribution? He wants to launch a big debate over it. Given you've unequivocally ruled out any GST changes, do you think this ongoing commentary is unhelpful given it's prompting a battle between states? We should be focusing on COVID, do you reckon he should pipe down? What are your thoughts?
PRIME MINISTER: The GST is not changing.
JOURNALIST: And do you think these comments are unhelpful?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, he can make, he's at liberty to make whatever comments he likes as the New South Wales Premier. But the Commonwealth's position is rock solid. Very clear. I authored the deal, I inked the deal, I'll keep the deal.
JOURNALIST: The Government has a very long to do list for the remaining sitting weeks of Parliament. You've got the National Integrity Commission, you've got religious discrimination laws. Barnaby Joyce added to the to do list this morning by calling for a crackdown on misinformation on social media. Which of these will you guarantee that the Government will deliver before the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've made great progress, particularly on the first two you've mentioned, but that all depends on, you know, the support we're able to secure. I would like to see things like that pursued, progressed with support right across the parliament, but we'll just wait and see what that is. You know, I'm not one to go and waste the parliament's time on issues if they're not interested in pursuing these things. But we'll certainly do the work on our side and make the Government's position very clear on these things. Whether that has support will determine how we progress with it. On the latter matter, I'll pick up and add my voice to Barnaby's. And indeed, as the Attorney General has indicated, you know, cowards who go anonymously on to social media and vilify people and harass them and bully them and engage in defamatory statements. They need to be responsible for what they're saying. I mean, I can't come out here and you can't come here and start doing things like that. We all know who each of us are. We're responsible for the things that we say and that we do. But yet social media has become a coward's palace where people can just go on there, not say who they are, destroy people's lives and say the most foul and offensive things to people and do so with impunity. Now that's not a free country where that happens. That's not right. They should have to identify who they are and you know, the companies, if they're not going to say who they are, well, they're not a platform anymore. They're a publisher. They're a publisher. And you know what the implications of that means in terms of those issues. So people should be responsible for what they say, in a country that believes in free speech, I think that's very important. And I think that issue is and the technology that enables it and the lack of accountability that sits around it is just not on. And you can expect us to be leaning even further into this. You know that Minister Fletcher has already taken frankly, Australia has a world leading stance when it comes to cracking down on cyber bullying and harassment. And Erin Molan's bill, as I like to call it, did a great job and we work closely with her and so many others. I mean, Australia has been more forward thinking and advanced when it comes to holding big social media companies to account whether it's paying their taxes, doing the right thing in terms of competition, so they don't shut down private media around and free media around the world and indeed in stopping bullying and harassment. We have been a world leader on this and we intend to set the pace because we value our free society and in a free society, you can't be a coward and attack people and expect not to be held accountable for it. Got time for one more. I'm sorry, Kat. I'll give you one too.
JOURNALIST: In the interests of transparency, can you be clear? Will the Liberal Party, you, countenance a deal with the National Party over net zero that transfers the the risks of the transition onto taxpayers, either through a loan guarantee, a jobs guarantee, an insurance guarantee?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I thought you were talking about a carbon tax then when you're talking about transferring the burden onto Australians. That's what a carbon tax does. We will work through this issue within the Government and will settle the Government's position. And we'll be advising that before we go to COP26 and we will do that within the cabinet and the government process. That's the appropriate way to run a country.
JOURNALIST: On the French sub deal, the French Foreign Minister has indicated that Australia has to remain in that contract for another two years. Do you know yet how much this deal is going to cost us in the end?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, we have a very good understanding of how we're going to proceed with that matter and we'll be working within the contract as it is set out. Let me just be really clear. Australia makes decisions in our national interest. We understand very well the many sensitivities and stability issues within the Indo-Pacific and the responsibility of my Government is to put Australia's national interests first. We respect all of our partners we will work closely with them all. I think one of the misunderstandings has been that in going down this path, there was some suggestion by others that this was to the exclusion of the participation of so many other friends and like mindeds in the Indo-Pacific. Quite the contrary. And I welcome the opportunity, particularly when I was in New York, to make that point very clearly. And even in these last few days, while I've been here in quarantine, I've spoken to the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Justin Trudeau again after his re-election. Again, speaking to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and many others just working through all these issues.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: That time will come. I have no doubt. I look forward to our first meeting again, our first phone call again. We've worked together very closely and I'm looking forward to getting through what is a difficult period. I acknowledge it's a difficult period. Of course it is. There was no way that we could have taken this decision without it having and causing deep disappointment and hurt to France. There's no way we could have avoided that. But you know, that's the thing about difficult decisions. To take difficult decisions, you need to be conscious of what the implications of those are. But understand what the greater benefit is to Australia's national interests. That's what I did on the subs. That's what I've done on AUKUS. I've put Australia's national security interests first, and now I will work to ensure that we deal with the other issues that flow from that. Otherwise, you know, you don't just get anything done. And that's what I sought to do was the right decision for Australia. And I look forward to ensuring that we work closely with our French partners here in our region, where I know they have great passion, great commitment and will continue to play a massive role because they always have. Thanks very much for your time.