Speeches
Press Conference - Wyong, NSW
7 April 2022
Dr Michael Feneley, Liberal Candidate for Dobell: All right. Welcome, good morning, everybody. I'm very pleased this morning to be able to welcome the Prime Minister to the seat of Dobell for this announcement. I've also got with me, Sam Farraway, the State Minister for Regional Transport and Roads and also Adam Crouch, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and also my colleague, Lucy Wicks, the MP for Robertson. So welcome everybody here. This is a great announcement, obviously, for the seat of the Dobell. But more importantly, for all of New South Wales because these are great efficiency measures, great for people of Dobell, particularly great for the people of the Central Coast, but the rail project in particular is going to be a great efficiency measure in moving transport from Newcastle through on the fast rail project. So faster roads, safer roads, faster rail and safer rail and a great efficiency measure for the state. And we're also this morning talking about the Central Coast Highway, of course, which is also seeing a major upgrade from Wamberal through to Bateau Bay, which has been another choke point in local traffic. And so from our point of view, this is a terrific announcement. With that, I'd like to introduce the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, thank you.
Prime Minister: Well, it's great to be here with Dr Michael Feneley, the Liberal candidate here for Dobell and together, of course, with my colleague Lucy and Adam and Sam. Great to be here with you also today. This is an important day. You know, Australia is not just the eight capital cities of this country. That's something my government firmly believes, the Liberal-Nationals Government is all about ensuring that our regions, our rural areas, our remote communities are understood, and are supported, because so much of the opportunities in Australia are actually outside our major capital cities. And that's always been true in the Central Coast, Hunter. And it's important that in the Central Coast, which is where more and more people every year are choosing to live and increasingly are able to work here on the Central Coast, they need the infrastructure that supports their quality of life, but also supports their economic opportunities. We have further increased the size of our infrastructure pipeline to make sure that we can be supporting regional communities all around the country with the infrastructure and the services, and most importantly, the jobs that makes those communities work and here at Wyong, what we're seeing is a town becoming a hub in the Central Coast, where people are not driving through they're staying, they're deciding, they're running businesses, they've got a future here. And this will be an important hub along the Central Coast and a town that continues to grow and prosper as a result of the growth we're seeing in the Central Coast region. But that needs the infrastructure to support it. That's why I'm pleased to announce, it's in the Budget, $1.4 billion today to go to three very important projects. The first of those is the upgrade of the Central Coast Highway from the, of the Tumbi Road intersection upgrade. Now that's $52 million, $51.2 million, I should say, that we're putting into that $64 million project. Together with the state government, we're funding 80 per cent, they're funding 20 per cent, and that work will get underway this year. And this is an important part of clearing bottlenecks along the Central Coast as more and more people are living here.
The second project, of course, is right next door to us. Right here where we're standing, and that's $336 million with 80 per cent of the funding for the Wyong town centre upgrade of the Pacific Highway. Now this is a project that is incredibly important. It's very important, and we've been looking to do this for some time and we're very pleased that we've been able to join with the state government supporting in this project to get it done. And we're very pleased that they have joined us for this being a major priority. We set out very clearly in the Budget, the Treasurer handed down last week and this is a real improvement for the Wyong town centre that because of its growth, needs this upgrade and the Commonwealth is funding 80 per cent of that project. And then, of course, we've got the faster rail. The faster rail, up to Newcastle and there's $1 billion for the Wyong to Tuggerah connection. Now this is a very practical project. This project basically provides for overtaking lanes, effectively, on our rail network. So the freight and the fast trains going through to Newcastle don't disrupt the more regular services that are coming through the Central Coast and serving the communities here.
This is a real project, $1 billion in real money, for a real project that will really happen. I'm aware of the other suggestions that have been put around, frankly at this point for some time, well, in the future, I'm sure they'll be science fiction. We are investing more in this specific part of this rail network, $1 billion. That's around twice what the Labor Party has announced for a fast rail project on the never, never. So these are real projects that will make a real difference, to the quality of living, right here on the Central Coast, and that's all part of our stronger economic plan for Australia that has the regions very much as the beating heart of the opportunities that our country faces in the future. So I want to thank the team. I want to thank the state government. I'll ask Sam to make a few comments about that, then happy to take questions. But this is all part of our economic plan. Building the infrastructure that growing regions need to prosper and to grow more into the future with the jobs and economic opportunities that come with it. Sam.
The Hon. Sam Farraway MLC, NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. It's fantastic to be able to join you here today on the Central Coast and to Lucy Wicks, the local Federal Member, Adam Crouch, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast. It's fantastic, obviously, Prime Minister from the recent Budget to see the additional investment in the Central Coast Highway. It's welcomed and the Central Coast community are certainly very happy to see that commitment. But as the New South Wales Regional Transport and Roads Minister today, it's a pleasure to be able to announce that the New South Wales Government will be contributing $84 million towards the Wyong town centre upgrade. As the Prime Minister has touched on, this upgrade is legacy building infrastructure. We're going to see the old bridge removed. We're going to see twin, new twin bridges and overpasses. We're going to see the duplication of the highway. We're going to see a new interchange at the station. We're going to see a new commuter car park supported by the Federal Government also. So in excess of $400 million project, $420 million, $336 million coming from the Commonwealth. And today, a $84 million coming from the New South Wales Government. It's an exciting time for the Central Coast of these three projects. That and obviously, as the Prime Minister has touched on, the faster rail announcement and on behalf of the New South Wales Government, I welcome the $1 billion commitment from the Commonwealth. This will complement the $298 million the New South Wales Government has already committed. The New South Wales Government, through Transport for New South Wales, have been hard at it working on our designs, on our ongoing planning, land acquisitions and the business case is looking at obviously this piece, this critical piece of rail infrastructure in the state of New South Wales. As the PM has touched on, this rail corridor is absolutely critical. Not only are there connectivity in reducing congestion and the overtaking ability on, on this rail infrastructure, but any improvements that we make to this rail infrastructure on the Central Coast assists the entire north coast line. We saw the XPT go through here this morning on the north, the north coast, and the north line that is critically important for efficiency and productivity for the broader rail sector and this infrastructure, I think, is money well spent. So on behalf of the New South Wales Government, we welcome the investment from the Commonwealth and it’s fantastic to have the Prime Minister on the Central Coast today.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Adam, and Michael and Lucy, happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Thanks Prime Minister. People are still waiting here on the Central Coast for promises from the last Federal Election, including our commuter carparks. What certainty can you give Central Coast residents that the upgrade to Wyong town centre will be delivered in a timely manner?
Prime Minister: Well, we already have acquired the land here for the commuter carpark here in Wyong, and you'd be aware of the challenges we've had in Gosford because of the issues that have occurred with the Gosford City Council, which has disrupted our ability to be able to move forward on that project. And I think people would understand that. These projects we're talking about here. Well you've heard very clearly the state government is fully on board with both the Wyong project as well as the Central Coast Highway project that I'm very confident that they will understand the great value of the faster rail project as Sam has just outlined. So the money's in the Budget. It's all there to be done, a good partnership with the state government to make those happen. There were some challenges with a couple of other projects, but they're important projects. I mean, we want to get them done. But when you hit obstacles like what happened with the Gosford City Council, well you just have to try and work through that. And that's what Lucy Wicks has been seeking to do. But you don't have to go far down in the Central Coast, particularly where Lucy has been the Member, to see all the things that she's been delivering in her local community. I was just there with her not that long ago, and it was a very long list. And so people on the Central Coast have seen what Lucy's been able to deliver there in the Central Coast over many years, and particularly the Newcastle University partnership, where there's put in place the clinic there at Gosford, linking up with the hospital campus there to train any number of health professionals that young people aspiring to study medicine can now go and do that in Gosford. That is what Lucy fought for, and that's what she's delivered. So we have a track record of delivering at the Central Coast, and these are just vitally important projects. Now our opponents, the Labor Party have not supported these projects. Anthony Albanese had the opportunity with his alternative budget reply in the Parliament last week to say the Labor Party is committed to the faster rail project we've put $1 billion into. He could have supported the Central Coast Highway upgrade, he could have supported the Wyong Town Centre Project, but he didn't do any of them. He didn't, he didn't commit to any of them. And so I think what people at Wyong can be pretty comfortable about is our commitment on these projects because I'm standing right here making that commitment and it's in the black and white of the Federal Budget.
Journalist: Prime Minister, pretty frosty reception at the Edgeworth Tavern last night. Are you surprised to see how much anger and frustration there is among voters at you and your government?
Prime Minister: Well, actually, more broadly, it was a very welcome reception. Of course, there was one gentleman, Ray, who was there last night who was very upset about what was a very complicated case. And it was a complicated case involving iCare, it was involving immigration issues and also involving income definitions under the pension regime. He's had a lot of complications with those, with those cases, and my staff met with him also after I carefully listened to what he had to say and respectfully listened to what he had to say. He wasn't asked to leave or anything like that. I could understand that he's very upset about some really significant issues that have happened in his life, and so I just, I was keen to understand what he was saying to me and I believe we have. It is a complicated case but we'll see how we might be able to assist and progress that. But you know, as you move around, I like hearing from people, and I hear from people all the time. So while some might have some very complex issues that need to be addressed, others I must say, who were there last night, it was great to see them.
Journalist: Do you expect you're going to see a little bit more of this obvious as we head into this campaign? Do you expect to have more encounters like this as we head into the election campaign?
Prime Minister: Oh, well, we're out there meeting with people, talking to people about what our plans are going forward, but we're also telling people about what we've been able to achieve and I know that over the last three years it's, it's been tough. Of course it's been tough. We've gone through the worst pandemic that the world has seen in 100 years. We've been through the worst recession we've seen because of the pandemic. Going back to the Great Depression and you know, Australia has come through this stronger than pretty much all of the advanced countries in the world, stronger than the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada. Australia has more jobs now, 375,000 more jobs today than we had before the election. And you know, you compare that back to the Global Financial Crisis when Labor were last in power. What we have gone through economically is 30 times worse than what happened during the Global Financial Crisis. But our government has seen unemployment fall from 5.7 per cent to four percent. Our employment performance has been 50 per cent better than what the Labor Party achieved when they went through a crisis that was a fraction of what this country has just been through over the last three years. And they saw unemployment rise from 4.2 per cent when John Howard left as Prime Minister and when Labor left it had gone up to 5.7 per cent. We've seen youth unemployment come down, we've seen two million people in total, get in to work over the course of our government and more than half of those have been women. We've got a record number of women in work, and I think projects like this will support women in work because of the commuting arrangements and the improved ease of access to so many of the local employment and regional employment centres as a result of the projects I've announced today.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the billion dollars for the faster rail covers ten kilometres of track in this region but locals say it won't deal with some of the other slower parts of the Newcastle to Sydney route in places like Hornsby and Gosford. Why have you announced this component rather than holistically look at speeding up that commute from the entire way from Newcastle to Sydney? And what do you make of the claim that you're cynically targeting this part of the track because you're seeking to win seats?
Prime Minister: I don't make anything of that. What I do say is this though, that this is a key choke point in this rail network. We're not coming out of this election promising fantasy projects, which local people understand would never happen. What we're doing is setting out a very practical project. You're right, it's about a 10 kilometre section. It's a choke point. You fix a choke point, you make the whole rail line go faster. It's real. It's achievable. It'll happen. It's not on the never, never. It's been carefully worked through. It's been well designed. There's been great consultation and it actually solves the problem. We're not pretending it to be anything different to that, but it's real and it's going to happen. And it's just what the Central Coast needs. And there's all sorts of challenges across the rail network, we're not promising to solve all of those today. But what we are doing is saying we're committed to funding to solve this part of it, which will make this network more effective, not just here in Wyong. I mean, this affects all the way up to Newcastle, all the way through. Right across all of those communities will benefit from dealing with this choke point, both here on the rail and there on the road.
Journalist: Prime Minister, can I, looking at the backflip on the Queensland flooding support issue. Is it the case then that an Acting Premier can make a lot of noise on television and in 24 hours the Commonwealth will go from saying it's something isn't in the scope of the program to is? Why are you confident now but you weren't yesterday that that money can be used effectively by the state government?
Prime Minister: Well, look, these requests are still out of scope of the normal projects that are done under this program, and it was, I think, a very reasonable position for us to expect the state government to fund things that they should be funding. But what was very clear from the state government's response was they were not prepared to do that. And I'm not going to have people left in the lurch as a result of the Queensland State Government playing politics on the eve of an election trying to weaponise politically the flood experiences of Queenslanders. So we'll make it happen. I don't think people want to see fights between state and federal governments. State government has sought to make an issue out of this, so I just want to make sure the support flows. But I'll put some conditions on. I mean, the Queensland government still hasn't spent $52 million from the support we've given them for past natural disasters. They haven't been spending the money that we sent to them to help people who have been affected by disasters. They sat on the money in their bank account and when they haven't even spent the money we've sent them for past disasters, then you can understand the Federal Government would be a little cautious about the requests that are now being made. So the condition of this funding going forward is the state government in Queensland and other states, for that matter, will need to be transparent about how much money is getting paid through. I'm not talking about over a number of years. I mean, the Queensland government today should be very clear about how much of the $550 million program that we already committed to in the first wave, how much of that specifically have they got to small businesses? How much have they got to primary producers and community organisations? How many cheques have they actually written? They've come asking for more money and they haven't even been necessarily spending the money that we've already supported them with. So we'll be providing those funds once it's been disbursed and settling up with the Queensland government. But it's very important that they are transparent with Queenslanders, just as New South Wales seeks to do here, with how much money from that flood response is actually getting to people now. I can tell you how much it is from the Commonwealth government in Queensland. It's $379 million dollars has gone from the Federal Government into the pockets of flood victims in Queensland. That is more, than up until this request, the Queensland government had even committed to the flood response and after our commitment today, the combined State–Federal Government commitment to the flood response in Queensland is around $1.9 billion. $1.3 billion of that comes from the Commonwealth. So I'd say that is the Commonwealth not just doing its fair share but actually picking up the slack of the state government in Queensland as well.
Journalist: So will the Commonwealth now be coming up with half of the $112 million for New South Wales to rebuild homes?
Prime Minister: We're working, we've been working through that particular issue with the Premier now for the last week or so, and there are some further requests before us right now, we've only just received them. And I've been in touch with New South Wales ministers this morning about how we might be able to address that as quickly as we can, but we're just working through those issues right now. It shouldn't be too long.
Journalist: Sounds like a yes?
Prime Minister: Well, it will sound like what it sounds like when we make that announcement. And after one, once we've done our proper assessment.
Journalist: Will you be calling the election tomorrow?
Prime Minister: Are we going to do this every day? The election will be called when I'm in a position to go to the Governor-General. It's, it's almost three years and by mid-May, when, from the last election. I said we would run a term, do the job and go to the Australian people. And so that's when the election is due, and I think that we'll be calling it soon. And when we do, then I think there will be a real opportunity because this election is an opportunity for the Australian public to take a good look. I mean, you've seen me, you've seen what we've done. You've seen how we've saved 40 thousand lives, got two million people into work. You've seen how we've ensured Australia could come through this pandemic strongly compared to countries all around the world and be able to set Australia for the future with infrastructure investments like this, investments in skills, investments in training, very important here, particularly on the Central Coast. Investing in those skills and training, supporting the essential services but with a strong plan for the future. Now my opponent in this election, Anthony Albanese, is a blank page. He's not a small target, he is a complete blank page. And at a time of great uncertainty, considerable uncertainty, not just in the economy, but also in terms of national security, a blank page is no answer to the problems that Australians face. You've seen our plan, you've seen it detailed in budgets, you've seen it detailed year after year and the forward plans about how we will continue to be strong. Anthony Albanese has been ducking the questions for three years, and in this election campaign, he'll have to answer them. Yesterday, I noticed he didn't like answering questions and had the questioner removed. Thanks very much, everyone. Great to be here, I have to go, thanks.
Press Conference - Cardiff, NSW
6 April 2022
NELL MCGILL, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR SHORTLAND: Hi, I am your Liberal candidate for Shortland. I am absolutely delighted to be here with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. And with James Thompson, the candidate for the Hunter. It's great to be here at Nupress [inaudible] a wonderful Shortland business, that's working to manufacture products for the defence industry, for the mining industry, and we've heard today that they're taking advantage of the great Coalition Government programs such as the Boosting Apprenticeships. So I'll hand over to the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Nell, and thanks James and thanks to Murray for having us here at Nupress and to everyone who I've spent some time with today, looking at the incredible work they're doing here in the Hunter. In this year's budget, we've invested $21 billion in the future of our regions, and within that, we're investing just over $7 billion on transforming, particularly so we can unlock the wealth of our country. And one of those regions is right here the Hunter. $750 million being invested, particularly into things like the New England Highway out past Muswellbrook and especially the Newcastle Port. Now, on my many visits up to the Hunter, you will know that I've already made quite a number of announcements, whether it's about the airport of the ports or others. That's because we believe strongly in the future of the Hunter region. And the Hunter region pulling together the great industrial resources of the traditional industries. Newcastle University working together with the scientific community and in particular the defence industries that are here as part of the Hunter. Now, Nupress is a great example of that. Small business, medium sized business, employing incredibly talented skilled individuals that are part of our defence industries. They make parts here for the F-35. They're a part of the supply chains of critical defence industries. And they're generating jobs and they're generating apprenticeships. We have 220,000 apprentices in trade training right now. Five of them are right here at Nupress. That's the highest number of trade apprentices in training we have ever seen in Australia since 1963. I know our economic plan is working, because I know Australians are in work and they're particularly in work here in the Hunter with both training opportunities, skilled opportunities, job opportunities that are growing every single year, our strategy for the regions pretty much, is very focused on the Hunter because I know when it works in the Hunter, it's going to work all around the country because it's combining together our traditional industries with our new manufacturing industries, supported by great universities and a strong workforce. So three quarters of a billion dollars in this year's budget to specifically support the Hunter and help the Hunter transform, whether it's in new energy such as hydrogen or making sure that the world's biggest coal port, here in Australia is out there exporting to countries all around the world. And a particular point of thanks, because it was only just a week ago, just over a week ago that I announced that we were shipping 70,000 tonnes of coal to Ukraine to support them in their fight against the Russian invasion. Now, where else would you come to for coal other than to this part of Australia and where it will go out through the Newcastle Port? And that's exactly where that coal will leave from. We understand absolutely the importance of the traditional industries here in the Hunter, and that's why we're backing them so strongly, as well as investing in the future opportunities as part of our economic plan. So well done to everyone here at Nupress, you're involved in as part of our defence effort, because what you bring together is our economic security and our national security. And that's on display with the great manufacturing work which is being done right here. I'll ask James to say a few words, and I'm happy to take some questions.
JAMES THOMSON, NATIONALS CANDIDATE FOR THE HUNTER: Fantastic. Well, thank you, Prime Minister. It is businesses like Nupress here in the Hunter, we have world class manufacturing here. We have our mining industry. We have so many incredible small businesses and they are the backbone to the Australian economy. And the Hunter is the powerhouse of our nation and it's great having the Prime Minister here today talking up the jobs that this government, the Nationals and Liberals in government have created in our region, a record number of apprentices. That's what the Hunter wants and more businesses like this, manufacturing things here in Australia. And it's fantastic to have a Prime Minister who is so supportive of making sure that we support existing industries, but not just supporting the existing ones, but we grow our economy and we grow the jobs, and we give our children and grandchildren the future they deserve right here in our region.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you James. When I was looking at one of the machines in there, they had tolerances of what the heat could get to. And it couldn't go above 23 degrees. And what this reminds me of is what I put in place when I was Treasurer, which is something called the tax cap. The tax cap I put into the government's fiscal policy which said that taxes as a share of our economy should never rise higher than 23.9 per cent of the size of the economy. Now that 23.9 per cent was derived from the average tax to GDP that occurred from the introduction of the GST through to the global financial crisis. So you shouldn't allow your taxes as a share of the economy to rise above that. And just like that machine would blow up, if you allow the temperature you to go above 23 degrees, so it's true if you allow your taxes as a share of your economy to grow higher than what is a reasonable tolerance. The Labor Party yesterday, Anthony Albanese and the Shadow Treasurer said, the tax cap I put in place as Treasurer, and confirmed as Prime Minister, they will abolish. That means Labor is getting rid of the speed limit on taxes. There's only one reason you'd abolish the tax cap, and that's because you want to increase taxes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Hunter seat has been held by Labor for decades. Do you think you can change voters’ trust?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, Joel Fitzgibbon, I know very well, dealt with, is very well liked at the Hunter, and frankly he's very well liked amongst parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle. And one of the things we always had in common with Joel, is he stood up for Hunter, he stood up for Hunter coal jobs, he stood up for traditional industries here in the Hunter and he didn't get pushed around by the Greens when it came to policy, he stood strong. Joel's gone and that means the Labor candidate will not be like Joel. He's not Joel, and the Labor Party under Anthony Albanese is the Labor Party that Joel Fitzgibbon has left because of the Labor Party that will just toe the line with the Greens. And so Nell and James, we have two wonderful candidates for the Nationals and the Liberals that will stand up for Hunter jobs, that will stand up for the traditional industries. I'm very passionate about the future of the mining industry here in the Hunter, but I'm also passionate about the tourism industry. I'm passionate about the agricultural sector and the defence industry sector and the new energy industries such as hydrogen. That's why you're investing in the Hunter to the tune of three quarters of a billion dollars to unlock the wealth further at the Hunter, because that's what makes Australia stronger.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] there is a fast growing population here. How will your government ensure enough social housing and affordable housing is available to meet future growth?
PRIME MINISTER: As Treasurer I established what was called the National Housing Finance Investment Corporation. It's a government agency with borrowed money at very, very low rates, and it lends it to community housing organisations to build affordable housing. Now together with that initiative, and a number of others, we've been able to get 300,000 Australians into their own home in just the last three years. In the budget, we've got $2 billion extra to support the National Housing, Finance and Investment Corporation. That's what we do as a Federal Government with the tools that we have. But as you know, social housing is 100 per cent a responsibility of the State Government. Where we help is with the community housing organisations to help them develop that new affordable housing. And that's exactly what's occurred. But our home loan support through the Home Guarantee Scheme means if you're a single parent, you can only have to save a deposit of two per cent, not 20 per cent, two per cent. And that is getting thousands of single parents into their own homes, and we just doubled the overall Home Guarantee Program for 50,000 a year, 10,000 of those places are going specifically to the regional areas, like right here in the Hunter. When it comes to housing, we're getting more people in the housing $5.1 billion spent every year in providing rental assistance to those who are renting, and when you're dealing with cost of living pressures like rising fuel prices, we've halved the Petrol Tax, which has seen petrol prices already falling and providing savings to householders and motorists all around the country, which is helping their family budgets.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Government has rejected Queensland’s request to share funding for flood prone homes because it was outside the scope of Commonwealth programs. How is flood resilience outside the scope of Commonwealth responsibility?
PRIME MINISTER: When we have natural disasters, we have an arrangement with the states called the Disaster Recovery Arrangements. And when the Queensland Government, when the floods hit, they sought support under that arrangement and we immediately provided to them to the tune of $560 million. And that was to provide grants to small businesses and family businesses, things of that nature. Now I've asked the Queensland Government to tell us at that $550 million, it's much more than that, that we agreed to go 50/50 with, how much have you actually paid out to people who are looking for those grants that we've already agreed to fund. And it's important they answer that question because as a Commonwealth Government, we have already paid out $379 million dollars in disaster recovery allowance and disaster recovery payments. Now we meet those costs 100 per cent. And we're also meeting costs in other areas to deal with mental health and other support to the community to help them get through the flood crisis. Almost around a billion dollars is what the Commonwealth is spending supporting the flood response in Queensland. Now I would like to see the Queensland government do the things that they're responsible for and the request they made are the things the State Government's do. We're doing what we're responsible for which is making those disaster recovery payments and those disaster recovery allowances to put money in peoples' pockets and $379 million is already there. So in a crisis, we all have things that we're responsible for. Commonwealth is securing everything we're responsible for. And it's important that the state government do the things they’re responsible for.
And another program that we have is the Preparing Australia Program, that is about $100 million, it is $100 million, which is grant support to those who could make applications. And together, we're working with the State Government to finalise the guidelines where they can do things like put homes on stilts. So we're providing support for the Queensland flood victims, just like we are for the New South Wales floods victims.
But the states have responsibilities and they need to step up, and I particularly commend the New South Wales government for how they're stepping up. We're stepping up with them. We've already got a billion dollars out the door in New South Wales, supporting the victims of those horrific floods, particularly in Northern New South Wales. But what the Commonwealth is doing is our responsibilities, and we keep stepping up with those, and we'll keep making those payments. And I must admit, I find it disappointing that the floods in Queensland are being used as a bit of a political football by the state government being politically weaponised on the eve of an election. We've always worked very well with the Queensland Government when it comes to dealing with so many floods, and we provided that support as they know, and we've worked in partnership. So it's disappointing that on the eve of the election, the Queensland government would play politics with this. When they've spent as much as the Commonwealth has already spent on the floods, well, we can talk further about what might further be necessary. But it's important the Queensland Government move forward with these programs because just like a disaster recovery payment is our responsibility, there are responsibilities that they have.
JOURNALIST: New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said that the delay in preselecting a number of candidates across the state is going to seriously limit their ability to win those [inaudible] seats. Do you agree with that, and if not, how can locals be expected to trust candidates that they'll barely know by the time the election is called.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, obviously, we would have preferred the candidate to be selected earlier, but I'm absolutely thrilled with the candidates that we have selected with the Premier and Chris McDiven and I was with Maria Kovacic today in the seat of Parramatta. Now, the Labor Party has picked their candidate, which they parachuted into the Eastern suburbs just a few days ago. We're going to the most important time when people are making the decision at this election. And quite understandably, Australians over the last three years have been very much focussed on what's happening immediately in their world, getting through the pandemic, dealing with kids home schooling, keeping employees and their businesses, pushing through what has been a very difficult time. And when you add floods and fires, cyclones, all of that - it means Australians have been rightly very focussed on the things that are most important to them. But there's an election coming up very, very soon. And at that election, Australians will be able to make a choice, and there's plenty of time for them to make that choice and look carefully at what the alternatives are. As a Government, we've steered Australia through the worst economic crisis we've seen since the Great Depression, 40 times worse than the global financial crisis that Labor had to confront and with a 50 per cent better outcome on jobs than what the Labor Party had during that time. So we have the proven economic plan to take Australia forward. Last week, Anthony Albanese, he only announced one policy and it unravelled within four days. So I think people will get a good look at the candidates, they'll get a good look at the policies, and I think it's important that that's what we focus on.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] Why do people within your Party keep criticising your character?
PRIME MINISTER: I understand why Catherine would be devastated by these floods, absolutely devastated and be upset. But as I made very clear last night, she was unfamiliar with the significant support we've provided, and I think the Premier has made similar comments today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you've been to the Hunter repeatedly this year and last year - three Labor seats are hoping to be competitive here. How confident are you that the Government will be able to [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'm confident about is my team and the economic plan, and the economic plan we particularly have for The Hunter. That's what I'm confident about, because it's the right plan for the Hunter. It's not a plan that turns its back on the traditional industries. It's not a plan that has been written to try and keep the Greens happy. It's a plan that's been written to ensure that the jobs at the Hunter remain the jobs of the Hunter, both now and into the future. The tradespeople will get their trade training here in the Hunter, and work here in the Hunter. That new jobs are being created, in new energy industries, as well as the traditional industries. The candidates that we've selected here are all about standing up in the Hunter, and standing up to the policies of Greens and Labor that seek to take those jobs away.
JOURNALIST: The Hunter was identified as one of several locations in Australia for a hydrogen hub, there’s been no decision on that, can we expect one before an election date.
PRIME MINISTER: And the other thing people in the Hunter will be pleased to know is that PEP-11 is not going ahead. I've made that commitment here in the Hunter, and I signed off on the paperwork just recently. The final paperwork, kept my promise – no PEP-11. Thanks, everyone.
Press Conference - Rydalmere, NSW
6 April 2022
MARIA KOVACIC, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR PARRAMATTA: Hello, everybody. It's lovely to see you all today, I'm Maria Kovacic, and I'm the Liberal candidate for Parramatta. It's great to see you all here at Thales, an advanced defence manufacturing business right here in Western Sydney. We do some amazing work in Western Sydney and this is a great example of that. This organisation employs over 500 people and deals with 150 suppliers globally. So thank you and welcome, and I would like to introduce our Prime Minister, the Honourable Scott Morrison.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Maria. It's great to have you here with me today and to be our Liberal candidate for Parramatta and congratulations. Maria, I was a bit enthusiastic last night, Maria, when I was talking about you on an interview. I said you were the Western Sydney Business Woman of the Year. Well you were a finalist. I know that. But more importantly, for 20 years, Maria has been a keen advocate for women across Western Sydney, having been a co-founder of Western Sydney Women and Western Sydney Executive Women. But more importantly than that, again, Maria has been running her own business, and she's been helping so many people across Western Sydney into their first home and into their homes through her mortgage broking business. And so it's great to have you as part of our team and for you to bring that experience and you wouldn't be a Liberal candidate for Parramatta if you weren't firmly on the Eel's team as well and where you've been involved as a board director on women at Eels. And I want to thank you for what you've been doing for the women's rugby league, particularly here in the Parramatta Club.
Today is an important day because overnight we've issued a statement as the AUKUS Partnership. The AUKUS partnership, as you know, was put in place by our government, together with the United States and the United Kingdom as an important partnership that would massively upscale our capabilities in terms of our own defence and bringing a strategic balance within the Indo-Pacific region. Now, of course, everyone knows the biggest part of that program was the nuclear powered submarines, and that's the first time that that technology has been made available by the United States to any other country since the United Kingdom had it in 1958. So this was the most significant defence agreement that Australia has entered into since ANZUS 70 years ago, and this enables us to keep ahead and stay ahead of the many challenges we're facing with security in our region. Now the other things that are a part of AUKUS, even more significantly than in some respects, especially in the near-term, is the work we're doing on advanced defence technology. And here at Thales this is what they do. They are world leaders right here in Parramatta, in the sonar array technologies that they develop, not just for here in Australia, but all around the world. And that is a demonstration of Australia's defence industry capability. Now what we've announced overnight is that hypersonics and the various technologies that surround hypersonics are very much a part of what the AUKUS partnership is striving to deliver, not just in Australia but in the United States and the United Kingdom as well. Working together, the best technologies, best defence industry, the best of our Defence Forces, ensuring that each of our capabilities is being realised and that goes along with artificial intelligence and quantum.
All of that is incredibly important for Australia's defence, but it's also an incredibly important part of our economic plan. Now our economic plan is about getting taxes down and cutting red tape. It's about investing in skills and infrastructure. It's about reliable and affordable energy. It's about moving into the data digital economy and being a top 10 data and digital economy by 2030. It's also about making things here in Australia, making important things here in Australia like they are making here at Thales with 500 employees, right here in the heart of Parramatta. And so there is a clear link between Australia's economic security and our defence security. And they come together in projects like this. The AUKUS Partnership and the industry and the jobs and the thousands and thousands of jobs, the research and the development, bringing the best minds to work on the biggest projects. And that's what the AUKUS partnership delivers. That's what an economic plan that delivers for Australia is all about.
Now, I mentioned our economic plan in the first point in that plan, and that is about ensuring that we keep taxes low. Now we're getting almost to the very start of the official campaign here in Australia for our Federal Election. And yesterday, the Labor Party through their Shadow Treasurer, announced that they would take the speed limit off taxes. I put the brake on taxes, I put the limit on taxes on when I was Treasurer, and that was based on clear advice from Treasury and working out that we needed to ensure that taxes did not rise in this country, which would slow down growth and would cost jobs. I said it at 23.9 per cent of our total size of our economy, and that is an incredibly important safeguard. It is a guard rail to ensure the taxes don't get out of control in Australia and as revenues rise that we don't take more out of the economy than we are allowing it to put in. It's a very important budget tool. It puts discipline in the budget, and Jim Chalmers wants to let taxes rip, he wants a no limits tax policy. We know what they did at the last election - $387 billion worth of high taxes. Now we're going into this election and Labor wants to take the tax cap off. They want to let it rip. They want to have a no limits tax policy. We told you that these are the sorts of things that Labor would do. Why would you want to get rid of the tax cap if you didn't want to increase taxes? I think it's pretty clear.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, it's pretty obvious you're campaigning here, you've even got your campaign buddy Ben Morton back here. Are you calling the election tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: When are you doing it, on the weekend then?
PRIME MINISTER: The election will be called soon enough, and it's going to be a very important election. Because, you know, over the last couple of years, Australians, rightly, have been focused on getting through what has been a very tough period for this country. They've been putting their kids through home-schooling as they've gone through lockdowns. They've been trying to keep their business open. They've been trying to keep their livelihoods in place. Many of them have contracted COVID themselves. But yet we have one of the lowest rates of COVID fatality death rates of anywhere in the world, saving 40,000 lives. But Australians have been working hard to get through this very difficult time. And now there is the opportunity before they make a very important decision at the next election, an election which is going to determine the strength of our economy, the strength of our national security, how we can keep Australians safe. Now is not the time to be taking a different direction. Our strong economic plan has seen a $100 billion turnaround in the last 12 months as a result of ensuring that we brought our economy through the pandemic, and we've made it strong so we can launch into the future and have a stronger future based on the success of that economic plan.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've copped some criticism from the New South Wales and Queensland governments today on flood assistance. Now New South Wales, this $112 million, we spoke about it yesterday. You said you have to be in a position where it's a one in 500 year flood before the Commonwealth half funds it. I don't really understand that, if your house is flooded, your house is flooded, so maybe you can explain that? And Queensland, just on Queensland, the Queensland Treasurer says today you didn't chip in on the $700 odd million that they'd announced and he says, "It is clear the Prime Minister's made a political calculation. He's decided he doesn't need flood victims to vote for him, so he has nothing to offer." Now you just spent $8.5 billion dollars on temporary cost of living measures on payments out the window. Is it politically that smart not to provide this flooding assistance so close to an election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with those issues in turn. First of all, in New South Wales, we've committed $2.1 billon to the New South Wales flood response, $2.1 billion. And $1 billion of that has already been paid to flood victims already. And we have also engaged with the New South Wales government on significant 50/50 cost sharing arrangements on the many programs that they've done, over a series of programs, and as I made very clear yesterday, for the additional support that goes above and beyond all of that for the most affected areas, far and beyond we've seen in any floods around the country. Of course, we're going to continue to support those particularly acute areas. That's what we've done. $2.1 billion, $1 billion already out the door. So when state governments have spent as much as we have on supporting flood victims, then I think they can be critical. But when they still have not yet gotten even the money out the door, when we've got $1 billon dollars here in New South Wales, I think that speaks for itself. Now in Queensland, let me be very clear about what we have done in Queensland already. Already we have some $360 million, which has been able to be paid directly to people, $375 million, I should be clear, $360 million on the disaster recovery payment that is already being paid to 311,838 Queenslanders. A further $15 million has been paid to 13,731 Queenslanders for a total of $375 million already in the pockets of Queenslanders who desperately need it. That funding is 100 per cent from the Commonwealth Government. State Government doesn't put in a cent to that. On top of that, we have committed $130 million extra to replanting, restocking and farm infrastructure extension of those grants, 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth Government. On top of that, there is a $279.25 million, which is our share in the first more than half a billion joint funded projects that we have done with the state government in responding to the floods. Now on top of that ...
JOURNALIST: This is about people ...
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry, and I'm sorry, I mean, you've asked me what the Commonwealth Government is doing to support flood victims in Queensland, and I'm telling you ...
JOURNALIST: I've actually asked why you're not stumping up this ...
PRIME MINISTER: No, but what I'm telling you is that we have committed and already paid out over $375 million, 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth. Queensland ...
JOURNALIST: So that's enough?
PRIME MINISTER: No, that's not what I'm saying. And more payments will be made under those programs, which are 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth. See, there are shared responsibilities in how this is done. We fund things like the income support payments, which, and the state governments don't have to put in a cent to that. We fund other programs, such as the $130 million, which we've extended, 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth. And then there are the shared programs we do together.
JOURNALIST: So they're just whingers, are they? They're just whinging, the state governments?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think we've seen over some time now a real politicisation, and it's very unfortunate, a real politicisation of natural disasters. When this, when the Queensland Government, who has responsibilities in the projects that they've outlined today, they are all Queensland responsibilities and we think they should do that. And if they were to make those investments, they would probably approach what the Commonwealth has already invested in the Queensland flood response. So I don't think people, frankly, are that interested in the politicking between state governments having a crack at the federal government when it comes to flood response. What I know is we've already turned up and we'll keep turning up with the things that we're responsible for and state governments will get on with the things they're responsible for. The requests they've made under these programs go outside of the scope of what the normal arrangements are for flood responses. And so that's where state governments have to step up. Now, as I said, it took around a billion dollars, just shy of a billion dollars that the Commonwealth has already committed and $375 million of that already paid to Queenslanders. So we're turning up. We're there. We'll keep doing our job. I'm not looking to get into any disagreement with the state government, but they've got their job to do and I encourage them to do it. We've got our job to do and we're going to keep doing that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on local manufacturing, you mentioned how important it is to have it here. In regards to the AUKUS submarine build, can you guarantee other than the nuclear reactor that it will be built in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're working through all of those issues. And that is certainly our intention to maximise all of that. Of course it is. But it's also the paramount goal is to ensure we get that capability as soon as we can, and it's in the best form that it can be working with our partners.
JOURNALIST: Was the prospect of going to the High Court play into when you were going to call the election?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Was the prospect of going to the High Court play into when you will call the election?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: The hypersonic missiles, when will we see them? Why do we need them? Is it because we're worried China will invade us? Is it because we're worried China will invade Taiwan? What are we seeking to prevent or seeking to arm ourselves for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's all, I think very clearly set out in the long range strategic plan that I updated two years ago. And you would be very aware that a key part of that plan is ensuring that Australia has long range strike capabilities, now these missiles, hypersonics, are one of the fastest developing areas of missile technology. And while Australia, together with our partners and allies, have very sophisticated and very advanced forms of defence, hypersonics, are an area where we're looking to significantly upgrade our capabilities. They're part of modern warfare, just like cyber, is part of modern warfare. That's why we put $10 billion into the REDSPICE program in this Budget to ensure that we can deal with the disabling impact that can come when we have cyber-attacks. That's the most significant investment that's ever been made in cyber warfare. But when it comes, offensive and defensive, when it comes to hypersonic missiles, they are one of the key technologies of combat in the future, and the long range strike capability is a critical part of our defence as set out in the defence strategic plan.
JOURNALIST: Is it your belief, in the next decade, China will invade Taiwan and if they were to do so, would Australia be at war with China?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I don't engage in that sort of inflammatory rhetoric, Andrew, because it's not my job to put Australians into a position of concern. It's my job to build our Defence Force capabilities, working with our partners and AUKUS is the best example of that, but so is the Quad, to ensure that we can protect and defend and avoid any of the sorts of scenarios that you were talking about. That's why we do these things. We do these things to keep Australians safe, we do these things to bring balance and strategic certainty to our region. And that's why we work with so many partners in the region, and we engage in this as an effort to achieve peace and stability, not the alternative. The reason we invest in all of these things is to create a peaceful environment and a stable environment in our region, not one driven by conflict.
JOURNALIST: More leaked texts today from Gladys Berejiklian. She has not denied that they came from her. Why were you under the impression that she had?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're not more, they're the same things that people were going on about before, so there is nothing new in that. And look, Gladys said herself that she has no recollection of that, in her own discussions with me, given the nature of the language she said she would be, she would be very surprised. So look, I should have said she didn't recollect them [inaudible] she denied them. And all I know is I haven't seen them and and that's not her view about the way we work together. And I think she's been very clear about that.
JOURNALIST: You made a series of appointments at the last minute. At least your ministers have, you know, Pru Goward, Don Harwin, a lot of Liberal people, Michael Mischin. It looks pretty cynical doesn't it? You're about to call an election, and a whole bunch of Liberals get these government appointments, I mean ...
PRIME MINISTER: We make appointments all the time, Andrew. I mean, you know, we appointed Gary Gray as the Ambassador to Ireland. We make appointments regularly and Labor people have been appointed to the exact same positions that you're talking about over the course of our term. These people are qualified for the jobs. They'll do a great job and I look forward to them doing a good job. That's simply why they've been appointed.
JOURNALIST: Are you calling an election May 21, because you need as much time as possible to come from behind in this race?
PRIME MINISTER: I said we'd run a full term. And I said we'd run for three years and that's what we're doing. I've been upfront with the Australian people. There’s been plenty of people speculating on election dates with great certainty, up until now, and they've been proved wrong time and again. I always said you get elected to do a job. We've been doing that job, keeping our economy strong, and that's what creates a stronger future for Australia. What I've noticed today is that the Labor Party announced a policy last week. They one had one to announce last week - it fell apart after four days, there were 200 separate policies in the Budget last week, they are all making Australia stronger, particularly dealing with cost of living pressures now and ensuring a stronger future for Australia. It's great to have the team, Maria. Thanks very much.
Remarks, Amazon Fulfilment Centre Opening Kemps Creek, NSW
6 April 2022
Prime Minister: It's great to be here with you, Stuart, and want to thank particularly the Amazon team, particularly those who are right here making all this happen. It's great to see you here as we moved around the facility today. Can I also acknowledge the Darug people, their elders past and present and emerging. Can I acknowledge any Defence Force personnel who are here today, particularly veterans who are here today. I have no doubt there will be many who will be working in this very Fulfilment Centre as well. To Tricia Hitchen, who I've known for many, many years. Thank you for your leadership out here in Western Sydney.
This has been an extraordinary partnership, as Stuart has said, it's involved so many people. I'm very proud of my team out here in Western Sydney and of course Minister McIntosh, that's here as the Member for Lindsay, but also Vivek Singha is here with you today, and he is the Liberal candidate for McMahon at the upcoming Federal Election. When you look at this, the biggest one of its kind in the southern hemisphere and you look at the technology that is here, the investment that has gone into it. When you look out and you drive in here and you look at this precinct and you think, what was here a decade ago, or even five years ago, none of it happened by accident. It just didn't turn up. It required people to have a vision for this area. It required infrastructure to be put in place, whether it's the roads that circulate around here and provide the base infrastructure for this facility or as indeed, as Stuart Ayres said, it is the Western Sydney Airport, the Nancy Bird Walton airport itself, which has been the catalyst, together with things like the M7 and other major projects, to create what is happening here in Western Sydney. The partnership between federal, state and local government is at its best when it's doing things like this.
We're all very focussed on the same goal. And what's the goal? Jobs, jobs and more jobs. There'll be 1500 jobs here. There's over 600 right now. And it was great to chat to those who are working here and find out where they've come from. Some of them were working in very different fields to what they are now doing. And as I met and spoke to the employees here, just how excited about they were about the job, that there was a job that was close by. But the catchment for people working here is quite wide. People are driving from Parramatta. They're only driving from not too far away. And I'm sure further afield as well. But these jobs have been created because we decided that we wanted to unlock the economic opportunities of Western Sydney, and we've been doing that as governments now for some time, particularly the partnership between the government I lead and the state government in New South Wales. This is exactly what we wanted to see happen. We wanted to see large companies like Amazon decide that they wanted to come and invest right here and create the opportunities. And when we look at this infrastructure, the private investment has generated off the back of what has been established around here in Western Sydney. What you see in there is the infrastructure of a new economy, bringing some 11,000 small businesses together and giving them the opportunity to connect to customers right across Australia, but indeed well beyond that in other parts of the world.
It is an advanced technology which is putting the Australian economy into the new digital age. The economic plan that we have as a Government, and that is to reduce taxes and cut red-tape to ensure we are investing in skills and infrastructure, to have reliable, affordable energy, to be building our sovereign manufacturing capability, but also to embrace the data and digital economy. And you can see that on display in there. What any small business themselves would find impossible to be able to build for themselves. And here it is. This is the market at work. This is entrepreneurs working together, small businesses, extremely large international businesses like Amazon, facilitated by the infrastructure and the investments that have been wisely put in and planned by governments. There's a reason why Australia's economy is coming out of this pandemic stronger than all the advanced economies in the world - the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Italy. There's a reason for that, because we've had a strong economic plan to take us through the pandemic, and all of this was happening during the pandemic. Australia didn't stop during the pandemic. Yes, on occasions, there were shutdowns here and there. But these investments kept going, because we were determined as governments to make sure they kept going. Our economic plan was all about ensuring that Australia came through the pandemic, the worst recession we've seen globally. You know, this global pandemic was 30 times worse economically than the global financial crisis of just over a decade ago. 30 times worse. But our employment outcomes have been 50 per cent better. And one of the reasons for that is the great vote of confidence that Amazon, and many other companies, have had in Australia and in our economy.
And that's why our economy will continue to grow and be strong into the future. Because the plan we have, a plan borne by our own expertise, and importantly experience working through this pandemic sets us up for the future. I've been, I'm not from Western Sydney as Stuart and Melissa know, Trish knows, but gee I love it. And I love it because of the entrepreneurialism. I love it because of its aspiration. I love it because they can just get stuff done. We're seeing that over the Western Sydney Airport right now, about half the workforce there comes from Western Sydney. We're seeing it here. I mean, people in Western Sydney are grasping their opportunities. They're buying homes, they're starting businesses, they're investing, they're backing themselves. And my Government has been all about encouraging that, backing it in, lower taxes and in particular, the support through the infrastructure and services and the fundamental belief that we've always had in Western Sydney.
So, it is quite a thrill to be here with you today. The largest warehouse in Australia, 13,500 tonnes of Australians steel, 4,000 jobs in construction, 1500 jobs ongoing. This is exciting. It's incredibly exciting. And it's only going to get better from here. But you can't take it for granted. It just won't happen on its own. You need a strong economic plan that continues this in the future, and that's what you'll always get from my Government. So, thank you to everybody here at Amazon.
https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43940
Press Conference - Mortdale, NSW
5 April 2022
The Hon. David Coleman MP, Federal Member for Banks: Well, good morning and welcome to Mortdale here in the Banks electorate to the BP service station here on Boundary Road, and it's great to be here to, to highlight the very significant impact that the Budget has had on petrol prices here in our local communities, we can see in the price here at BP today. It's great to be here with the Prime Minister, with the Foreign Minister and with Jenny Ware, the, the Liberal candidate for Hughes. I've known Jenny for a long time and she is a, a tremendous candidate, a person of great capacity, experience and intellect and it's terrific to have her as part of the team, and here in Mortdale as we visit BP this morning to have a look at petrol prices and this extremely important cost of living issue here in the local community. And on that I will hand over now to the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Thank you very much. Well thank you, David, it's terrific to be here with you again. Of course, Jenny, it's great to have you on the team. And together with Jenny and David and I, we represent the Liberal team down here in Southern Sydney, so it's great to have you on that Southern Sydney team, Jenny, as well as our broader national Liberal team. And it's wonderful also to have Senator Payne here, Marise Payne is with us here today. Marise will be heading over to, to meet with NATO tonight and, there are some very important meetings, and I'll ask her to say a bit about that before we go to questions.
We are here today at a place I used to fill up my car pretty regularly, actually, because Jenny used to live up the hill here. We just got married down the road, and, and so I'm thrilled that here, right here in Mortdale, the benefits of what we've done to cut fuel taxes, to give people cost of living relief right now, as a result of this budget, is being felt right here at the bowser, and to, to see those prices getting down to what we see here, 166.9, and we're seeing that right across the country, just seeing 20 to 30 cent falls already all around the country in what's happening with fuel prices. Now, this didn't happen by accident. This has happened because in the last 12 months, the economic plan that we have put in place has seen a $100 billion turnaround in the budget position. And that is because we've got more people off welfare and into work. It's happened because we've kept discipline about how we were spending. Yes, we've had to invest to support the Australian economy, but we've known when to get in and support, just like we're doing again now, and we also know when that support has to be rounded out.
And as we've come through this pandemic, what we know is, is our opponents, the Labor Party, would have spent an extra $81 billion during the pandemic. Now we knew when we had to see some of the measures we had before that helped our economy come through. But the Labor Party wanted to keep on spending and spending and spending. And what that would have meant is that we would not have been in a position to harness the gains that we have been able to put in place through how we've come through this pandemic, with the strongest economic rebound we've seen in Australia in 70 years and provide that cost of living relief right now. It would also have put our AAA credit rating at risk, which was reaffirmed on Budget night by S&P because of the balance that we had in our budget, which would put upward pressure on interest rates. Under our government, keeping our AAA credit rating, keeping expenditure balanced and in control to get our economy through the pandemic, that puts downward pressure on interest rates and it puts downward pressure on inflation, and that's been recognised by our credit rating agencies. And so it's, I'm very pleased to see already what we thought might even take a bit longer than this, that we're seeing that cost of living relief flow through to Australian families, for individuals as they're going off to work, getting around the city and ensuring that they can get that cost of living relief now. Cost of living relief that's been provided by good economic management, strong budget management. That's what we're known for and that's what we'll continue to deliver our economic plan. Now I'll ask the Foreign Minister to make a few remarks about heading off to NATO later today.
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thanks PM, and great to be here in the St. George area again and fabulous to be here with David Coleman and Jenny Ware, in particular. Because I'm in Mortdale, I have to say that like many of the community here, every week, I am willing the mighty Dragons on and on, it's a challenge but we are there behind the mighty Dragons, so let me start with that. Can I say, though, Prime Minister, that I am leaving this evening, as you have, as you have advised for a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers and close partners in Brussels in relation to Russia's actions in Ukraine. The coordination that this meeting will strengthen and enable is core to the global response to Russia's unlawful, egregious and unprovoked actions. They are a wholesale breach of international law, a wholesale breach of the UN Charter. So the work that we have been doing in applying sanctions, including over 500 people identities in the last month, the support that we have provided for humanitarian aid, and that is being delivered through trusted partners on the ground in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries, and through Australian aid organisations and the military support that we have provided is key to our coordination with our international partners. I look forward to meeting with the key members of NATO and those counterparts in the coming days in Brussels to reaffirm Australia's support and to reinforce our engagement in this key international cooperation. Thanks PM.
Prime Minister: Thanks a lot.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I guess you've come full circle on this petrol price business, because two months ago at the Press Club, you couldn't even name the price.
Prime Minister: Well, what we were talking about a few months ago, when we were looking at excise issues that weren't going to make any real difference to petrol prices by making some marginal changes. And what has happened over months now, as we've, as we've seen the invasion of Ukraine take hold and we've seen the impact of that on petrol prices, and they were getting up over $2.20, up to $2.30, and now we see them at these levels because of the intervention that we've made. You see, our response when it comes to things like this is we don't make knee-jerk responses to issues. We think carefully about the design of our changes. That's what we did on JobKeeper. We made sure we got that right. We saved 700,000 jobs and many lives, I am quite certain. Many businesses were able to get through the pandemic because of the strong economic management that we provided, and we were able to maintain our AAA credit rating at the same time. And that's what's ensured that we've been able to realise the biggest economic comeback this country has seen in 70 years. We've gone through this very difficult economic time that was 30 times worse than the Global Financial Crisis back when Labor was last in government. But yet we got an employment outcome that was 50 per cent better. And I think that says a lot about the contrasting approaches of Labor and the Liberals and Nationals, that when we're dealing with a crisis, we get the design right, we get the interventions right. We maintain Australia's financial and economic security and we get better economic outcomes. Under Labor, when they faced the crisis, and this one has been 30 times worse, we actually saw unemployment rise over their government from 4.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent. Now going through an economic crisis 30 times worse, we have seen unemployment fall from 5.7 per cent when we came to government, now down to just four per cent and it's heading further down. That is the contrast of economic management between the Liberals and the Nationals and Labor and the Greens.
Journalist: You found the $2.6 billion for this measure. Why couldn't you find the 60 million or so for the Lismore flood victims and the NSW government were under the impression that you were going to go halves in this $112 million Back Home grants yesterday, they had to announce it by themselves. Why didn't you agree to go halves in relation to that?
Prime Minister: The Commonwealth Government has already invested $2.1 billion in the New South Wales flood response and directly a billion dollars has already been paid directly. Now that billion dollars that we've put in directly, that is 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth Government, and there are many other measures also, including $50 million to support anchor businesses in the Northern Rivers area, which is 100 per cent funded by the Commonwealth Government. So when you come together to respond to a flood crisis, and this is normal procedure, there are some things that the Commonwealth pays for 100 per cent. There are some things that the state government pays for, and there are some things where we share the costs and all up, our commitment into New South Wales for the flood response is $2.1 billion and a billion of that is already in the pockets of those who've needed it most.
Journalist: I think if you're taking credit for petrol prices coming down will you take responsibility, if they go up between now and Election Day?
Prime Minister: Well what I can simply say is that we have provided 22 cents a litre relief on fuel tax. That's come off to ensure that people can have lower prices. Prices will still move around. But what I do know is they'll be 22 cents a litre less than what they would otherwise be. And that's what the ACCC is there for, to police these things to make sure that these tax cuts for motorists are in place and pass through, and they have penalties and powers to ensure that people follow through. But, I must admit, I'm very pleased with the way that the fuel industry has responded. We have seen them move quickly and we have seen them pass this on much quicker than we had anticipated. And so I thank them for that. They want to give their motorists a good deal. They want to be able to pass on those cost of living relief. And they're doing that. And people can see that we have delivered that right here at the bowser and right here in Mortdale.
Journalist: This is one of the cheapest BP service stations in all of Sydney. Is that why you've selected this particular BP?
Prime Minister: But if you look at the prices around here, you'll find they're at very similar levels, I've seen very similar levels down in Melbourne where I was yesterday. I'm still out in regional areas when I was up in northern Tasmania on the weekend. It'll take a little while for it to come through there. They're still just a bit over $2 where I was, about $2.03, $2.04. But we expect to see that come down in regional areas. The way that fuel has moved around the country and when they pay their excise is different. But here in the metropolitan areas, I'm very pleased with the way, whether it's BP or AMPOL or others have moved quickly to pass on those savings that they can pass on those savings because of the economic management we put in place, which meant that we've had a $100 billion turnaround in the last 12 months. And if we'd listened to Labor, if we'd done what Labor said they wanted to do, then we would have been $81 billion out of pocket and we would not have been able to respond because Labor always knows how to start spending, but they never know how to stop. And that's the problem, and they never design it right. They never get it right. We saw that last time during the Global Financial Crisis, when we saw failed programmes all over the place. So it's just not enough to be well intentioned. You've got to get it right, as we have.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I'm being told there was a handshake agreement between you and Dominic Perrottet where you pay half of the Back Home grants, that's not the case?
Prime Minister: No, and I've written to the Premier again, stressing that we are very happy to share in the costs of that program for the 1-in-500-year flood event. That's what we undertook to do.
Journalist: Why have they announced $112 million, is the issue that it's outside Lismore, some of this assistance?
Prime Minister: We've said we would go to those places that are impacted by the one in 500 year flood event, because the types of program that they're pursuing, are program that are done by state governments. There are some things state governments do 100 per cent. There are some things Commonwealth Governments do 100 per cent, as I said, where $2.1 billion in support, which actually is far in excess of what the state government has responded to the floods with, and a billion dollars of what we've committed is already in people's pockets. But we were very clear that on that particular program, we were prepared to meet half the cost of those places impacted by the one in 500 year flood event. Now, people on the ground wouldn't see any different. The program would still run, and we'd settle up those costs, as we do for all of these things, at the end. And our offer remains that we would meet those one in 500 year flood cost for those impacted properties.
Journalist: All right. Well, Catherine Cusack, you'd be aware of her comments. She's called you a bully, but she's also said you're looking after Paige but not Richmond. What do you say to that?
Prime Minister: Well, it's just simply untrue, because of the $7,000 or thereabouts which households have been receiving in additional disaster payments, extend across all the seven LGAs, including the one she lives in. And I said at the time that we listed those first three LGAs first, because they were the most obvious ones, and that was the advice of our agencies. And then I said we'd be assessing further, which we did, and we extended it to the other four. So it's just wrong in fact.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I don't know if this is the question best for you or perhaps the Foreign Minister, but can I get an update on Western Sydney father Chau Van Kham who is detained in Vietnam?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: You're correct. Chau Van Kham is detained in Vietnam. We have been making very senior representations to the Vietnamese authorities, including in-person on my part to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Home Affairs Minister when I was in Hanoi at the end of last year. I raised it again with the Foreign Minister in a call last week, and have discussed it on a number of occasions with the Ambassador. Our concern in relation to Mr Chau Van Kham, respecting the Vietnamese legal system, and we do, our concern, though, is his age. He is in his 70s, he is unwell, and we have sought an appropriate consideration of his circumstances, given those facts and to have him allowed to return to Australia. And we will continue to press that.
Journalist: Have you got any update on when that may happen? Obviously, it's been almost more than three years now, his family is still very distressed at what's happening. And you're right, he's 72 years old now, he's very unwell from what we hear. Is there any idea of when that might happen?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Ultimately, that is a matter for the Vietnamese authorities. But we have sought reconsideration of his circumstances, given his age and his health and sought their support in having him returned to Australia.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you talk about being the government of good economic management, you like to talk about your roles on ERC and NSC. How does that gel with your decision as Treasurer to agree to the French subs project, and you can see that's likely to cost Australian $5.5 billion for nothing?
Prime Minister: No, I don't agree that's what it will cost for nothing. That's not the case. There is much that we've acquired through that process. But one of the things that has changed remarkably since 2016 was the strategic environment in which the submarines that we were looking to acquire would have to operate in. And that changed completely. And the opportunity for Australia to acquire nuclear powered submarines at the time of that decision was not present. It wasn't present. Australia needed the nuclear powered submarines. That's what we need to keep Australia strong and to keep Australia safe. And I was not going to allow Australia to forego that opportunity when we'd worked hard to secure it. And that the submarines that we were going to buy, were not going to be able to meet the task that we needed them to perform to keep Australia safe. So the Plan B I had was better than Plan A. And the plan that we have now is going to keep Australia stronger and it's going to keep Australians safer. And it means that going through that transition is part of that transaction cost of doing that. But what we have learnt, the skills that have been acquired, all of these things go to our capacity to now go on with an even better project. And you know, there are hard decisions, Andrew. You were over there with me at the time, the Carbis Bay. You were there when I, I met with the with the Prime Minister of the UK and I was there with the President of the United States. And you were aware of how significant that meeting of the three of us was, perhaps not at the time, that became clear to you later. But that opportunity for Australia is the most significant defence agreement this country has entered into since ANZUS 70 years ago. And so, there are difficult decisions and you've got to be strong to make those decisions. You've got to be prepared to wear the flak that comes from those who will criticise you for making those decisions, whether they be good friends in other countries or they be indeed others, who will be critical of those decisions now. All I know is it was exactly the right decision to make for Australia. It took courage to make it. It actually took a lot of foresight and a lot of hard work to put Australia in the position to be able to do it. No other prime minister has been able to secure the technology from the United States to deliver nuclear powered submarines to keep Australians safe. And that was a decision in the national interest and the decision I'm very pleased that we're able to make under my government.
Journalist: Just on isolation rules. So Daniel Andrews has said his state follows the AHPPC advice. And you'd be aware that advice on Friday said don't lift the isolation rules yet. So what do you say to that?
Prime Minister: Well, I've always been a fan of these isolation rules being eased, but they are decisions for premiers and they'll weigh those up in their own areas. I know the impact it has on the economy of people not being able to go to work, or the impact that goes with caring for children and the disruption that it has. And you know, premiers like prime ministers have to make decisions that weigh up all of those factors and I'd be encouraging them to do just that.
Journalist: But your CHO, as well, would be, would be supportive of that?
Prime Minister: Well, you know, in my Government, I make the decisions and my Cabinet makes the decisions - we don't subcontract that out to others. Thanks very much, everyone.
Press Conference - Clayton, Vic
4 April 2022
Gladys Liu MP, Federal Member for Chisholm: So welcome everyone. It's great to be here again at the synchrotron and thank you, Andrew. And also, so many of you and the scientists for showing us around and it's great to be here with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and also Minister for Health Greg Hunt. Every time when I come here, I just find it so amazing. It is the scientific hub. It is the innovation. It is the R&D and it's the future for not just Australia, but the world. We are witnessing all the amazing things that are happening here. And I get so excited with the announcement today it will top it off as well. So amazing things that all the scientists are doing here. Well done to all of you and I look forward to working with you all more in the future. But to top it off, I just want to say three out of three for Carlton. Go Carlton.
Prime Minister: Well, Josh will be very happy with you over there in Western Australia, can I also thank you Gladys and Greg, my dear friend being here with me here today. Can I also thank Shaun Jenkinson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Synchrotron. It's great to be here with you today and thank you very much for the tour around this amazing facility. Professor Andrew Peele is the Group Executive of the Nuclear Science and Technology and Director of Australian Synchrotron. It's wonderful to be here with you today. To William Hladik, the Managing Director of Global Medical Solutions. Mr Doron Ben-Meir, is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Senior Vice-President of Monash University, and Professor Rebekah Brown is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Senior Vice-President of Monash University. And David Cade, the CEO of Telix Asia Pacific.
I was very keen to welcome everybody today because ... and I welcome everybody up here today. Give yourselves a big cheer. You do an amazing job for our country. Great to see you up there. And more importantly, what we're, what we're viewing onto here, which is, you know, we talk about major pieces of infrastructure in this country. You talk about the Snowy Hydro scheme. You talk about the major pieces of all of the mineral resources infrastructure in the country, the big ports, the airports, the massive infrastructure that has driven Australia's wealth and opportunity over hundreds of years. But, you know, this is the infrastructure of the future that is creating jobs, you want to have a sovereign manufacturing capability here in Australia then get yourself one of these. And this is the most amazing piece of infrastructure to support our scientific research and medical community to ensure that they're developing the pharmaceuticals, the scanning technologies, the answers to the big questions that are being asked in medical science and research in particular, but much more broader than that right here in Australia. You know, once upon a time, this all used to go overseas. You had to. The researchers had to go overseas, the entrepreneurs had to go overseas. They all had to do that. But back in 2016, as treasurer, I had the great opportunity to sign off on the acquisition of this synchrotron and make it part of the national science infrastructure of this country. And what that has meant is they've been able to have a platform upon which they could build and build and build. And so we've had more partners, both in the research community and in the commercial community. And what they're doing here now is leading the world in so many specific areas, particularly having the opportunity for human beings to be able to get scanning here right here at this very facility, the most advanced X-ray machine for clinical patients anywhere in the world. And that's all tremendously exciting.
But as Prime Minister, this is all about jobs. Because here in this Monash precinct, we are building an ecosystem right here in Gladys Liu's electorate. We are building an ecosystem of people, of scientists, obviously, of the research infrastructure, of the education research infrastructure at Monash University and many others that have the ability to participate with. And as they move between each other they're doing one thing: they are unlocking the wealth of our nation and they're not doing it necessarily by pulling things out of the ground. They're doing it by bringing out the innovation and the ingenuity and the research capability that is creating the discoveries that is setting up incredible commercial opportunities for jobs in this country. Well into the future. Well into the future. Whether it be it pharmaceuticals and many other places. This is all about manufacturing jobs where we are today. And the research and the science and the collaboration that makes that possible.
And today, I'm very pleased to announce that we are investing $23 million in funding to global medical solutions. Australia's Precision Medicine Enterprise Project under the collaboration stream of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative. What that means is we're building a cyclotron which deals with protons, not electrons. I can reliably inform you, as I've been reliably informed today. But that's what we do. If you want to have a sophisticated, strong economy that makes things, then you've got to do this. And this just didn't happen overnight. We started this back in 2016. This has been part of our economic plan. This is why Australia has had the biggest economic recovery, as was revealed in the budget last week in 70 years. I'm not kidding. 70 years. What did that mean for the budget? It meant that the budget was able to turn around to the tune of over $100 billion in 12 months. The unemployment rate has fallen to four per cent and it's still falling. We've been able to ensure that we've been able to invest to get our economy through, whether it's apprentices or whether it's those going through studying advanced physics that we see here. Coming through, staying in jobs, keeping jobs and now setting Australia up for the big opportunity that's ahead. That's what this investment is all about. This is what a serious economic plan does. This is why Australia has one of the strongest, if not the strongest advanced economies coming out of the pandemic. And we're ready to go. And we're ready to go because the plan that got us here is the plan that's going to take us into the future. Because if you don't have an economic plan and we have not seen an economic plan from the alternative that seeks to put themselves forward, Labor Party in the next election. Our Liberal Nationals plan is investing in the infrastructure, whether it's the roads out in the outback or the ports where they need to be built, the pipelines that need to be built, the dams that need to be built, or indeed the cyclotrons that need to be built that set up our economic opportunities for the future because a strong economy needs a stronger future. And on that note, I'll ask Greg to make some further comments.
The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Thanks very much to PM and to Gladys Liu. Precision medicine is the future of medicine, and that's happening right here at the synchrotron. And it will be happening right next door at the cyclotron. But we can only do these things if you're able to pay for them. And I'm in a very privileged position that in this budget, we were able to add $34 billion dollars to health investment in Australia over the coming four years and that came because we were able to get the response to COVID right. One of the highest vaccination rates in the world, one of the lowest rates of loss of life and therefore one of the strongest economic recoveries that led to the investment in health that led to the 10-Year Year Medical Research Future Fund Plan. And all of this comes together in investments in projects such as the synchrotron and the cyclotron. Here, some of you may have heard of Venetoclax. Our brilliant researchers helped do the underpinning science for Venetoclax. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute then turned that into a reality, and in turn, that is now a medicine that's on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, treating patients with conditions such as lymphoma and leukaemia. The next stage of precision medicine, which is about identifying our genomics, STEM cells, but is also about using nuclear medicine and that next stage is the cyclotron. So with this $23 million under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative, the cyclotron which GMS and Telix and Monash University are bringing together will allow radio isotopes to be brought forward and they can be used, these isotopes, for nuclear medicine to diagnose and to treat. So diagnosis and treatment. To put it very simply, it's a better, faster way to treat many different cancers and conditions, such as kidney disease. We just saw one of the beam lines here at the synchrotron, and that beam line is about having the world's most powerful X-ray to help diagnose breast cancer earlier and therefore to treat it earlier and more effectively. Next door, the future is being created with the cyclotron to help provide nuclear medicine treatment for people for their cancers for their kidney diseases that will create jobs. But ultimately, it's about saving lives and protecting lives.
Prime Minister: Now, particularly given we’re at a scientific community establishment here it is right for me to celebrate our scientific heroes first, as I had when I came, but I don't think you'd mind me in celebrating our female sporting heroes after having done that today, particularly with the Women's World Cup win. So to Meg Lanning, in particular, the whole team, I want to say, congratulations, you've done a terrific job. You've done us proud. I've been in touch with the Boris, the last few text messages I've been able to have with Boris on the cricket have been pretty good, I've got to say. And anyway, he always takes it in the good spirit. But I do want to congratulate Heather Knight for the great job they did with their team. It's always great having the old battles with the old enemy, there out on the cricket pitch and to see Meg and the girls take it home. Congratulations. We're just so, so proud of you. Happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, when are Australians going to the polls?
Prime Minister: That'll be in mid-May. Remember last year- three years ago, the election was on the 18th of May and I've been very clear over the course of this term. I've always had it in my mind that we would serve out our term and then go back to the Australian people. And so after three years, then that's when you go back to the polls, so there's nothing new about that. But let me say this about the next election campaign. The Labor Party, and particularly the leader of the Opposition - Leader of the Labor Party - Anthony Albanese, has been skating away there without a lot of scrutiny, without a lot of attention. Sort of pretty happy to try and get an election as quickly as he can and try and avoid the scrutiny of an election campaign. Now, as you know, I stand before you all the time and people can certainly throw plenty at me. But here I am, standing strong, standing tall and this election campaign is an opportunity for the Australian public to scrutinise the alternative. Last week, Thursday night, he had the opportunity to lay out an alternative economic plan for the country. He didn't. The opposition, the Labor Party and the Greens are a blank page when it comes to economic policy. What does that mean for you? It means that if he hasn't, after all this time, told you what his economic plan is, then how can you trust a Labor Party that when they were last in government, saw unemployment rise from 4.2% to 5.7%? Now when I made this point to Anthony Albanese the other day, he said, "Oh, but you're forgetting the global financial crisis." Well, I don't know where he's been for the last couple of years. We have had to face an economic crisis 30 times worse than the global financial crisis that the Labor Party had to face, and we've got employment outcomes that are 50 per cent better. That's what good economic management looks like, and when we've been put to the test with a crisis 30 times worse than the Labor Party face, we have done 50 per cent better when it comes to getting people in jobs, keeping their jobs and ensuring they can come through these crises. Because if you can't run a strong economy, if you can't manage the national finances, then you can't ensure and guarantee the things you say you want to deliver in government. It all comes back to that. So this election campaign, there'll be plenty of opportunity for scrutiny, and I encourage people to look carefully at these things. Elections are serious things. As the Australian people know, they know it's not a reality show, it's not based on who they like or don't like. They know it's about the economy they will live in as a result of the decisions that are taken by their government. Our government has shown that we've been able to produce a stronger economy in the midst of the worst economic challenge and health crisis we've seen in 100 years on health and 70 years when it comes to the economy.
Journalist: There's still a question mark over the several liberal candidates in New South Wales. What will you do if the court overturns your picks? And why should the public elect a party unable to govern itself?
Prime Minister: Our government totally governs itself and under our constitution, we've selected the candidates, and I'm very pleased with the candidates we've been able to select. And I look forward to campaigning alongside them over the course of this election. And this is why we go to elections every three years because we have a strong plan that has been delivered and I'm looking forward over the course of the election campaign about setting out very clearly how our plan has kept 700,000 Australians in work. All Australians remember JobKeeper. Because so many Australians' livelihoods depended on it during the pandemic, and it's the way we manage the economy that achieve that. And that same plan is now taking us forward into the future. We have the runs on the board when it comes to how to manage a strong economy. We have the runs on the board when it comes to managing Australia's national security. And as we get closer and closer to that election, Australians will be able to really measure up. Anthony Albanese wants to slide on in under the scrutiny. What's he hiding? Why doesn't he want to share his plans? He can't go to the election just pretending to be Kevin Rudd - a re-Rudd is not a solution to Australia's challenges. Our economic plan have proved the solution and will continue to prove.
Journalist: So you're confident the courts will uphold the preselection for New South Wales?
Prime Minister: The courts will make their decision. It's currently before the courts, so you wouldn't expect me to make any commentary about what the courts have been [inaudible].
Journalist: What's the plan B?
Prime Minister: I've already answered the question.
Journalist: Are you prepared to sign a stat dec without the court order, that you [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: Well, I've already utterly rejected those issues, and I dealt with them in some detail yesterday, but more importantly, leaders of Lebanese community have made their own statements and I can put that matter to rest.
Journalist: Are you prepared to go sign a stat dec without a court order, because yesterday you mentioned ...
Prime Minister: That's the only reason you would be required to do one.
Journalist: Mr Towke signed one [inaudible] ...
Prime Minister: And there's no court decisions on any of those matters. I think I've been very clear. I absolutely reject that as malicious slurs. It is outrageous, absolutely outrageous. I've dealt with it time and again, and the leaders of the Lebanese community, I think voices have spoken most significantly about this matter and just what's behind all this and I think it's very clear.
Journalist: Seven days isolation for COVID close contacts. You've previously said that's redundant. Is that still the case?
Prime Minister: Yeah, I'm looking forward to that being removed. I'm looking forward to that being removed.
Journalist: Should it be removed right now?
Prime Minister: Well, ultimately, that's a decision for the Premier. We don't make those decisions at the Commonwealth level. It premiers who decide, you know, to shut cities down, or open them up. Not the Commonwealth Government. It’s premiers who decide whether to mandate vaccines or not mandate them. They're not decisions the Commonwealth Government makes.
Journalist: What do you make of [inaudible] last night?
Prime Minister: I haven't seen those.
Journalist: He pretty much called for isolation to be scrapped.
Prime Minister: Well I'm already on the record of looking forward to the day when we're able to move past those close contact rules. I am aware of the medical advice, though, that’s come as we've been going through this latest wave and obviously Premiers will be very sensitive to that and considering that very carefully.
Journalist: On Newspoll, when you look at two party preferred, you only enjoyed half of the budget bounce you got when compared to 2019. In 2019, you got an immediate four-point turnaround. This time, it's two. By that metric, has the Budget missed its mark?
Prime Minister: This budget does a number of important things. The first one it does, is it ensures that the most significant turnaround this country has seen in its economy in 70 years is put straight to work to give people a real cost of living relief. And we're already seeing it at the bowser even now as you move around Melbourne. I was in northern Tasmania yesterday. I've been in other parts of the country, and we are already seeing those lower fuel prices find their way to the bowser, which means Australians are already receiving the benefits of a Budget that was handed down less than a week ago. And I welcome that, and I thank the petroleum industry for passing through those savings so quickly, that will soon be followed up by much needed support for pensioners and others who received those types of payments - $250 to support them in dealing with rising cost of living that has been caused by those fuel price increases. And then, of course, on the first of July, there will be the increased tax cuts that are there. Tax rebates for people to keep more of their own money - $420 if you're earning up to $126,000, which enables you to deal with real cost of living pressures now.
Now the Labor Party, they sought to bag that last week. They were for it, and they were against it, and that's the problem with Labor. You never know what they're for because they're always against everything that they're for. And that's not how to run an economic policy. That's why people don't know what they stand for, what their economic plan is. But that was the first point. The second point was to invest heavily in Australia's in our economic plan, and I've just announced today another further investment in that economic plan for the future through the cycle for building off the work of the synchrotron. So we're not just building dams, we're not just building roads, we're not just building airports and rail links. We're building the scientific infrastructure that Australia needs to ensure that we have a sovereign manufacturing capability. Australian manufacturing capability right here. Third point is that this budget guarantees the essential services that Australians rely on, and Greg you might want to speak to some of the health issues here. But you cannot make commitments in areas like health and mental health, you cannot put things on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme like Labor failed to do because they couldn't run a strong economy last time. When Labor was last in power they could not list medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme because they ran out of money and they didn't know how to run a budget. That means people were being denied lifesaving and life changing medicines. That's what having a good budget and a strong economy is all about. And so then of course, there's the investments we make in our defence and our security and the almost 10 billion we've invested in REDSPICE for the project to enhance our cyber security defences and offences. First shot fired in any conflict that Australia might be involved in won't be in a metal casing, it'll be in bits and bytes. And that's why we've massively ramped up over these last years we've been in government, our investments in cyber defence, cyber offence, and this takes it to a whole other level. Greg, did you want to talk about health?
The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Just very briefly, to build on what we said earlier. There was $34 billion dollars of additional health expenditure and that's across primary care, hospitals, mental health, medical research to support our amazing scientists and aged care. $7 million in Medicare. $10 billion in hospitals. Additional funding. $10 billion in aged care. But in many ways, the easiest thing to understand is the new medicines. So on budget night there were $2.4 billion of new medicines that were list. And if you want to understand the difference between the current government and our approach to funding and to health and the alternative under Mr Albanese. Under Mr Albanese, they stopped listing new medicines. I'll give you an example. Symbicort for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On budget night, the Treasurer listed Trikafta for another respiratory condition, Cystic Fibrosis. 1900 patients over $200,000 savings per annum and changes their lives, saved their lives. And that's the difference.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Thanks very much, everyone. Great to have you here, and can I thank all of our researchers. You've done a fantastic job. Thanks very much.
Press Conference - Barrington, TAS
3 April 2022
Susie Bower: Well, we've certainly put the weather on for you today and this is exactly why these sorts of projects are so valuable in Tasmania as we have such a high rainfall and we have the storage availability here as well. So it's fantastic to be back again in Lyons with the Prime Minister, the Premier, Minister Taylor, Minister Barnett, the CEO of Hydro, Ian, and the CEO of Marinus Link, Bess Clark. So to give you all the details about this fantastic signing today that we just witnessed and the two projects around Tarraleah and Marinus Link, I'll hand over to the Honourable Scott Morrison.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Thank you very much Susie. It's great to be here with Susie Bower, the Liberal candidate for Lyons. Can I of course welcome my good friend Peter Gutwein, Premier of Tasmania. This isn't the first agreement we've had, we've had many over so many issues and I'm really excited that Peter and I can be here today. To Angus and Guy, who've done a terrific job pulling all this together as part of what is such an exciting project, not just for Tasmania, but for all of Australia. And I'll go into that in a moment. Bess Clark is here who is heading up Marinus Link, it's great to have you here with us, Bess, the CEO of Marinus Link and Ian Brooksbank, as CEO of Hydro Tasmania. Peter and I, began on Battery of the Nation some years ago. He was the Treasurer of Tasmania, I was the Treasurer of the Commonwealth and so it's with a real sense of excitement we're both here today as both Prime Minister and Premier to ink the next stage of this incredibly exciting project. Marinus Link and the Battery of the Nation project, what this means is more power, lower electricity bills and more jobs. That's what this is designed to achieve and to do so in a way which continues to see our emissions fall. We've already seen our carbon emissions fall by around 20 per cent in this country. That leaves behind, and it's great, New Zealand and Canada and the United States and Japan and many countries, we're achieving it. And here in Tasmania, the Battery of our Nation, as it will be, as it powers up the rest of the Australian economy, particularly in Victoria, providing low emissions, low cost energy to keep power bills down. As here in Tasmania, you're able to experience because of the foresight, the pioneering vision of those Tasmanians who came and turned 30 lakes into 15 power stations. And that vision is benefiting generations, not only of Tasmanians today, but generations of Australians well into the future.
Today, we have announced $140 million from the Commonwealth in further investment in two initiatives. One is to get the Marinus Link project to final investment decision by 2024, $75 million of that project, joining together with the State Government. And the second is $65 million for the Tarraleah Power Station Redevelopment, which is the first of the Battery of the Nation Hydro Power Projects. Now that brings to some $206 billion the Commonwealth's investment in these exciting projects. And they link together. You've got to generate power here in Tasmania and you've got to get it across the Strait. You've got to bring it to market at lower prices to get electricity prices down both here in Tasmania and across in the mainland. This will mean some 2,800 direct and indirect jobs. And so much of that right here in Tasmania, bringing the skills, bringing the investment, bringing awareness and leadership in clean energy technology, which leads the world. So I'm very excited to be here today with Peter, to announce this very important project. This is what good governments do as part of their economic plan. By the time we get this to final investment decision, investors will be lining up, we'll have to be beating them away. But let me be clear, to both ourselves and I'm sure the state government, we have a very good interest in these projects on an ongoing basis. These projects stack up commercially and they strengthen the balance sheets. I think of the Tasmanian State Government, but equally, they are very worthy projects which can stand on their own two feet and will demand investment in them. And that investment will flow because of the commercial success I think of these projects. So we're very keen to be part of that together. But our role is to make sure we can get to that critical point. Unless governments, Tasmanian Government, Commonwealth Government, Federal Government are working together to work this project up to a point where the private capital and other investment can flow, including if need be for the Commonwealth, then these things wouldn't happen. And when we stand in a place like this and we see the pioneering spirit that led to the Battery of the Nation, the amazing network of hydroelectric power stations here in Tasmania, this is up to that vision. And this is looking ahead, just as those pioneers did here in Tasmania so many years ago and on that note, a pioneering Premier, Premier Peter Gutwein, it's good to be here.
Premier Peter Gutwein: Thank you, Prime Minister. I could not be more pleased to be here today. This State, for 100 years has been building renewable energy assets and at the moment we can generate 100 per cent of our needs in terms of renewable energy. But what this means is we can now take the next step to assisting the rest of the country to transition to green energy, to renewable energy. Importantly, the $75 million that the Commonwealth have pledged today, in terms of Marinus, will be matched by $75 million by my government to get this project to the investment decision point. I'm very pleased, already, we are seeing significant private sector interest in ensuring the Marinus is delivered. Importantly, with the Commonwealth agreeing to consider funding as well for this project, what it says to me is that we have passed a threshold now and this project will be delivered. What that's going to do is unleash an incredible amounts of investment in Tasmania. Already, we have wind farm proponents queuing up in terms of wanting to provide generation capacity in this State. Importantly, in respect of Tarraleah, the Commonwealth investment of $65 million will be met with the State contribution of $58 million, ensuring that Tarraleah can double its capacity from 110 megawatts to 220 megawatts, becoming the first component part of the Battery of the Nation. I could not be happier with where we have landed. Importantly, this will generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs here in Tasmania and builds on the 100 years of investment that we've already made in renewable energy. And the moment that we're about to capture will ensure that not only will we be able to continue with our target of doubling our renewable energy capacity here, but importantly we're going to provide jobs and prosperity for Tasmanians. And so I couldn't be more pleased with the announcement today.
Minister Guy Barnett: Thanks very much Premier and Scott Morrison, Angus Taylor, Susie Bower. It is a very special day. It's an historic agreement today and I couldn't be happier as Energy and Emissions Reductions Minister. This is part of our vision, it locks in Tasmania as a leading renewable energy jurisdiction. We have already, as the Premier has outlined, 100 per cent fully self-sufficient in renewable energy, heading to 200 per cent. This is remarkable not just across Australia, but across the world. We're a globally leading jurisdiction when it comes to delivering affordable, reliable, clean, 100 per cent clean, electricity. We're excited about that. We have a big vision and today's historic agreement locks that in and cements Tasmania's renewable energy credentials. We are standing here at Devil's Gate, one of the 30 power stations in Tasmania, one of the 50 lakes across Tasmania as part of the network. For Tarraleah redevelopment is very exciting. The investment in partnership with the Australian Government will see by the end of this year, 100 jobs in terms of that early works to see that vision come true for Tarraleah to double the megawatts from 110 to 220. This is exciting being part of the Battery of the Nation and then further plans with Lake Cethana and West Coast as well. So it's a great day, it's great to be part of it and it locks us in as a renewable energy powerhouse of Australia.
Minister Angus Taylor: Well, thanks, Guy, Premier, Prime Minister, Susie, great to be here with you. Talking about investing in a modern electricity, that's what this is all about, and doing it on the shoulders of those great pioneers, as the Prime Minister said. This is $140 million investment in Tarraleah and getting Battery of the Nation up and running, but also getting Marinus to the point of financial investment decision. And that will provide the affordable, reliable, sustainable electricity that's not just required here in Tasmania but it is required in the mainland as we see record levels of investment in solar and wind and the highest rate of household solar investment in the world, in Australia. And that needs to firm, it needs to be stored and we need the matching dispatch able generation and that's exactly what these wonderful assets here, that were built in the 50s, 60s, 70s and earlier, in some cases, that's what they provide us. Now we've heard about the benefits, 2,800 jobs in Victoria and in Tasmania during construction. But the other big source of benefits is those customers that rely on the affordable, reliable energy, with falling emissions, right across the east coast of Australia. Whether that's our aluminium smelters or our steel mills, they need affordable, reliable energy. Now we've seen around close to a million people working in manufacturing right now, we want that to be significantly higher. We've seen with the Modern Manufacturing Strategy very significant investment happening in manufacturing in this country, but it relies on affordable, reliable energy that's there 24-7. And those customers want it with falling emissions and that's exactly what this project and other projects like it provide. The commitment is significant, it's $140 million, we've talked about it across Tarraleah and Marinus, but there's also a clear pathway now to the underwriting of Tarraleah as part of the Underwriting New Generation Program. A program, I should point out that Labor is proposing to abolish. But that's what's necessary. That program is necessary to get Tarraleah up and running, and there's a clear pathway now to the support of the Tarraleah investment through the Underwriting New Generation Program. As I say, this is what investment in a modern electricity grid looks like and the benefits are strong. Thank you.
Bess Clark: Thank you, it's wonderful to be here today on behalf of Marinus Link and we welcome this announcement, which will allow the Marinus Link business and TasNetworks to continue the important work to bring project Marinus to an investment decision so that we can deliver benefits here in Tasmania, to Victoria and beyond. Delivering clean, reliable, affordable power and supporting regional communities. It's an exciting project and we're very proud to deliver on it. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Happy to take some questions on this project in particular and announcements we've made today, [inaudible] partnership, which is a very strong one to ensure that the Tasmanian economy remains strong. It's true here, it's true everywhere. A stronger Tasmanian economy means a stronger future for Tasmania. The same is true nationally. Then happy to take other questions.
Journalist: Who will actually pay for the $3.5 billion it's going to cost to construct the Marinus Link?
Prime Minister: Well, it will be paid for through either one or two channels. We're very confident that by doing the work here and getting the final investment decision that investors will be lining up. And I have no doubt that as a Commonwealth Government, that we will be looking at that very closely ourselves. Why? Because it stacks up. Because it's a really good project. It pays for itself in that investment. And so the challenge will not be attracting investment in this project, the challenge will be who gets there first because it is such a strong and valid project. So that is not something that's really concerning people at the moment. We both have a very strong interest. What matters is you've got to get to the starting line of these projects and you don't get there unless governments work together, like Peter and I are, to ensure we get to that point where the investors start lining up.
Journalist: In 2020, you came here and said that you were fast tracking Marinus. We're still years away from construction, is this really a fast track?
Prime Minister: These are massive projects with incredible design issues, incredible engineering issues, I mean, just look at the maps there. These things aren't done overnight. What it requires is the patience and commitment and determination that we're showing as two governments to make this a reality. You work through it painstakingly. And that's why commitment and determination and having a clear plan when it comes to running the State Government or the Commonwealth Government is really important. This stuff just doesn't turn up overnight. The fact we're standing here today is because we stood together back in 2020 and we stood together back in 2018, in very different roles. But that's how you get these things done. Do you think they built these 15 power stations, sorry these 30 power stations, around Tasmania, could it all happen overnight? No, it takes discipline, it takes time, it takes vision, it takes commitment and determination. And that's what we're seeing from the Federal Government and the State Government.
Journalist: How can we be sure this isn't a white elephant? It's cheaper to build a couple of big batteries on the mainland than an expensive cable underwater.
Prime Minister: Well, I might ask Angus to speak to that.
Minister Taylor: Well, look, actually, this is the lowest cost of storage of electricity that we can see by a long, long way. It's true of all pumped hydro projects, they're very low cost storage, a particularly longer duration of storage, and that's what's needed in the grid. So we're seen record levels of investment in renewables in this country, highest level of investment in household solar in the world. We're approaching one in three houses now with solar on their roofs. They need backup and storage. Batteries can store for an hour or two. But beyond that, they're very, very expensive. And that's where pumped hydro comes in. Whether it's this project or Snowy 2.0, that's what the grid needs. And we know from our own experience, because we own pumped hydro assets, they are needed in the grid. They're affordable, they're reliable, they give a good return to taxpayer's money, but they also give a great return to customers. That's why we're investing in it.
Journalist: A recent report did say though that it would be too expensive to keep battery storage in Victoria. Do you disagree with that?
Minister Taylor: Well we don't accept that. The storage cost per megawatt hour of these, projects like this one, are a tiny fraction of what we've seen on batteries. Now the battery cost will come down, but long duration storage is going to sit with pump hydro for many, many years to come. We're very comfortable with that. And that's why these projects are so important.
Journalist: Premier, your government still can't guarantee Twiggy Forrest that he's going to have energy for his hydrogen development at Bell Bay and there's a couple of components there that also want energy. So how are we going to find 1500 megawatts?
Premier Gutwein: Well what is fantastic about this project and others that we have in front of us, there has never been a Premier in this State that has had more proponents for renewable energy lining up than me. And importantly, what this decision and the outcome of today means, is that we can provide surety for those proponents moving forward. And what we will see quite clearly is a doubling, as we've already announced, of our renewable energy capacity in this State over that time. And so, having enough energy is not going to be the problem. They are lining up.
Journalist: Will the State Government actually help fund the construction of the Marinus Project?
Premier Gutwein: Well, we've announced today that we're putting in $75 million to match the Commonwealth funding to ensure that we can get to the financial investment decision point. But importantly, as the Prime Minister has said, as and 'm well aware of as well, we have investors already. The private sector is knocking on our door to get involved with Marinus Link. And with the Commonwealth also considering whether or not they might play a role post the financial investment decision, what that signals to me, is that this is a done deal. Subject to the successful outcome of the financial investment decision, Marinus is going ahead. And what that will do is provide enormous certainty for those proponents who want to build more wind or more solar in Tasmania for that matter.
Journalist: Are you expecting there'll be enough private investment funding that the State and the Commonwealth won't need to chuck any money in? Or is that still going to be required?
Premier Gutwein: Look, in terms of the Link itself, we have private investors knocking on our door right now. What this decision and outcome today signals to them is that this is going to go ahead. And importantly, what we expect to see is an avalanche of interest in respect of Marinus moving forward. There is no doubt in my mind that this project is going to go ahead. There is no doubt in my mind that the 100 years of investment that we have already made into renewables in this State and the further investment that's going to occur is going to assist the country with its transition. But importantly, in terms of the other generation that is being developed around the country, nobody can provide firming capacity like we can or Snowy can. And importantly, that's what we're going to put into the grid.
Prime Minister: Are there any other questions on this project? Well, I just want to thank my colleagues for being here today, very much. I want to thank you Peter, as well, of course. And to Guy and to Angus who have just done such a terrific job in pulling this agreement together. You know, in the last two years, electricity prices have fallen by 8 per cent. That's what we said we'd do at the last election, I appointed the minister for getting electricity prices down, well they're down by 8 per cent. And they're down by 8 per cent because we do things like this. We've got form on doing things like this. Through Snowy Hydro, whether it's up to the Hunter or now, directly working together with the state government here, reliable, affordable power is what ensures the industry continues. It's what gets electricity prices down. And that's what we're delivering. It's a key part of our economic plan because with a strong economy, you have a stronger future and reliable, affordable energy is central to that. And in regional areas across the country, that is what's delivering. That's what's helping us get those electricity prices down. Whether you're in the city or you're out in the regional areas, these investments are what are the game changing investments. $21 billion has been invested in our regions in this Budget alone, transformative investments, and I can't think of a more transformative investment to Tasmania than making Marinus Link a reality. You are going to power up the rest of the country and with green power, that's reliable and affordable and cheaper. There's only upside in all of that. So thank you all very much for being here today. I'm going to thank my colleagues, particularly those from Tas Hydro and from Marinus Link. Happy to take other questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if you didn't say anything to preselectors about Michael Twoke's Lebanese background, are you saying that he and Scott Chapman lied on their Statutory Declarations?
Prime Minister: Well, all I can say is it is just simply untrue. And these are quite malicious and bitter slurs, which are deeply offensive, and I reject them absolutely. I have always walked the walk when it has come, particularly to my relationship with the Lebanese community in my home state of New South Wales and my home city of Sydney]. I walked the walk with Jamal Rifi and Jihad Dib when I banded together with the Member for Blaxland and we came together, our two communities after coming into the parliament together, Jason Clare and I, to heal the rift that had been caused by the terrible riots that we saw in Cronulla and the revenge attacks that took place. My role ever since being elected has been to heal; heal the divisions between these communities. And the suggestion that I have done anything otherwise is deeply offensive. And it comes at an interesting time, that these vicious personal attacks come on the eve of an election. On the eve of an election. I'll let people work out their own findings on what's motivating them.
Journalist: But there are voices inside your own party…
Prime Minister: Bitterness can often produce all sorts of slings and arrows and attacks. I know where they've come from. And bitterness can always produce this. I've been around politics a long time, and people, when they've had disappointments, whether they be in preselections or in decisions, can often remain bitter for many, many years. And all I can tell you is my record of my relationship with the Lebanese Maronite community, in particular, as well as the Lebanese Muslim community, is one that I think stands out amongst any other member of Parliament and certainly above any other prime minister of this country. My track record of walking the walk, literally on the Kokoda track together, day after day, to do one thing - to demonstrate unity between people of Muslim faith and other faiths in this country, between two communities which were completely shattered by the events that took place back in Cronulla and the revenge attacks that took place all those years ago. And we helped heal that and we've helped bring it back together. So I reject it completely, and others can speak of my record in this area. But when it comes to my commitment to the people of the Maronite faith, of Muslim faith in this country, particularly those who have Lebanese ancestry, there's not a member of the Parliament that could speak to the work that I have done, out of love and out of friendship, for my dear friends in the Lebanese community, particularly in Sydney, where I know them best. But more broadly, across the nation where I've enjoyed a wonderful, supportive relationship. So you can make your own assumptions about why people would want to viciously attack me on the eve of an election. Those who may have been disappointed by past outcomes in politics, you know, in politics, you need to move forward.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if you stand by that then will you be willing to sign a statutory declaration that you didn't?
Prime Minister: Yes, of course I will.
Journalist: So we'll see that?
Prime Minister: Well no one's asking for one and I'm not going to court over these matters. I'm not bringing any actions. I stand by exactly what I've said here in the public domain, which I do every single day. But more importantly, it wouldn't be just me signing such a statement. It would be the walk and experience and the record I have and the testimony of so many others who have understood my deep and abiding relationship with people of Maronite faith and people of Lebanese ancestry in Australia. We have, we have cried together. We have prayed together. Whether it was after the Christchurch massacre and I stood at the mosque in Lakemba and we were in each other's arms. And we are working through those issues on every single occasion. When after the terrible explosion that occurred in Beirut, it was either, it was on the phone, into the Lebanese community, offering that support and they know that. And so for other Australians, I'd simply say this, in politics, in elections, if you're the Prime Minister, the leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, people are going to throw stones. They're going to make accusations. But you've got to look at the motivations. You've got to look at whether people are speaking out of disappointment or and as a result and making unfounded allegations. They are unfair because my record speaks for itself.
Journalist: It's not just on the eve of an election that these sorts of attacks on your character have been appearing, why do you think these people who have worked with you seem to have these views of you?
Prime Minister: Well when people don't get the answer that they want for me, whether it's in cancelling a French submarine contract or people have had disappointments in their political careers along the lines, then bitterness often speaks out. It often speaks out. And it will find its target in a convenient target, and it'll be repeated and it'll be reported. But the reality is, and I think this case demonstrates it more than any other, that the walk I have walked with the people of Lebanese ancestry of Maronite and Muslim faith in this country speaks greater volumes than anything else, and I stand on my record.
Journalist: If you're saying these people have lied on their Stat Decs, are you willing to investigate it?
Prime Minister: No, these statements haven't been submitted for the purpose of any court or anything of that nature. I can tell you, I've been a director of the Liberal Party and I'm sure secretaries of the Labor Party will know, people make sort of statements and they'll sign them. It doesn't make them true, it doesn't make them true. I have no interest in chasing those matters for legal purposes down. They've said what they've said. I completely reject it, I absolutely reject it. But my actions are the greatest proof of that. But what I have done in working with the Lebanese community in Australia speaks for itself and what they have said and the way that they have honoured me in their homes, in their mosques, in their churches, as I've put my arms around them in some of the worst of times that they have experienced. And Jenny has done the same, Jenny has done the same. So if anyone wants to have a crack at me on those issues, they better have walked a mile in the shoes that I've walked in because if they can't, they can stay on the sidelines.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the allegations towards you are that you are a bully, a liar, and now that you've used someone’s ethnic background against them, does this hurt your [chances]?
Prime Minister: Well it's untrue.
Journalist: Are all of those are untrue?
Prime Minister: Completely untrue. It's completely untrue.
Journalist: It's coming from a lot of places now.
Prime Minister: From individuals who haven't liked the answer they've got it. They haven't liked the answer they've got, and so rather than accept that, they have decided to cast all sorts of slings and arrows. You know in politics, particularly if you're Prime Minister, you've got to have thick skin. You've got to have broad shoulders. People will throw all sorts of mud at you, particularly when you get up close to an election, and they'll make all sorts of things up because they have other motivations. I only have one motivation and that is I want to ensure that Australia remains strong, keeps getting stronger and so we can secure the future. If people think they can go to an election and seek to change the outcome by throwing mud like they have on this occasion, and it's very rare that I will even counter this or respond to these things. But on this particular occasion, as others have continued to wish to report, I could not reject this more fundamentally, more soundly and you will hear voices of others who will do exactly the same thing. So if others want to throw mud at me on this issue, well, you know, it says more about them than it does about me because my record of caring and loving the Lebanese community in this country speaks for itself and stands head and shoulders above all the other pretenders. I think I've covered that one off.
Journalist: Is that what you think their motivation is though? That they want you to lose the election. [Inaudible]?
Prime Minister: Well, you're an experienced journalist, I'm sure you can work it out.
Journalist: Can your party be unified before the election, and if it can't, will you lose?
Prime Minister: We are totally united in the Parliamentary Liberal party. That has been one of our great strengths. Through all the challenges we have faced as a government, we remain absolutely united. Absolutely united. And as we go forward this election, looking forward to people like Susie joining our team for the seat of Lyons and the wonderful work that's been done by our entire Tasmanian team. Bridget Archer who I was with yesterday and Gav who I will be with later today. I mean, we have a wonderful Tasmanian team here, Jonno and the whole team that lead our Senate team here in Tasmania. A great team working for what's best for Tasmania, but also for the country. That is true right across our country with all of our candidates and with all of our members of Parliament. We are going forward united because we know we've got the right plan and we know it's a plan that has got Australia through one of the worst times we have seen, both from a health point of view and an economic point of view. Well, from a health point of view, you've got to go back 100 years and on the economy, you've got to go back to the Great Depression. Now we've come through this pandemic, which economically meant a hit 30 times worse, 30 times worse than the Global Financial Crisis. And that, as you know, was when Labor was in power during the Global Financial Crisis. So we have dealt with the problem 30 times worse and we've got an employment outcome that's 50 per cent better because we've had the right plan, we've made the right decisions. That means our economy is strong. The biggest recovery we've seen in 70 years. More people in work, more people investing, unemployment coming down, growth going up. All of that is being produced by our strong economic plan that is working. And that's the economic plan that we'll take into the future. It's the economic plan that has invested in projects here in Tasmania to ensure that regional economies are strong and they can realise the great ambition of these projects with Marinus Link and Battery of the Nation. Thanks very much, everyone.
Remarks, Virtual signing of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement
2 April 2022
Prime Minister: Your Excellency, my dear and trusted friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to Minister Goyal and to Minister Tehan, Namaste and also g’day from here in Launceston in the island state of Tasmania. I feel it is a very timely and relevant place for me to be because this is the home of crayfish, of sheep meat, of our wool, and the many other berries and other things that form part of this agreement. I'm so pleased to be able to join you here from Tasmania today.
As Prime Minister Modi mentioned, it was only last week that we were meeting as part of a very productive annual virtual summit. But this was, of course, not the first time we've met. We've met on many, many occasions and I go back to 2014, where I had the good fortune to be seated next to Prime Minister Modi then. Prime Minister, when I was then the Immigration Minister, and it was Prime Minister Abbott who introduced us on that day back in 2014. And I also want to join with Prime Minister Modi in extending my thanks to the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott when it comes to the agreement that we've been able to reach on this day. I said then, at our virtual summit last week, that the pace and scale of our cooperation since we announced our comprehensive strategic partnership has been remarkable. Some $282 million in new initiatives that my government has announced, including at the summit, which will drive our expanding cooperation. This is the single largest Australian government investment in our relationship with India, but it won't be the last. And now we mark another milestone in that relationship, the signing of, of the AI ECTA Agreement, the Australia India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
This agreement further develops on the promise of our economic relationship, realises it. It will facilitate cheaper Australian goods to India, wool, horticulture, coal, LNG, amongst many others, supporting India's economic growth and development. It will unlock deeper cooperation in critical minerals, rare earths, which I know is an area of increasing importance to India's growing manufacturing sector and a very common topic of our discussions as part of the Quad Leaders Dialogue, which I share with Prime Minister Modi. And, it will further deepen the warm and close ties between our people by delivering increased work, study and travel opportunities. Importantly, it sends a powerful signal to our businesses and investors alike, that one of the biggest doors is now open to a great economic partnership. Two dynamic regional economies, like minded democracies, working together for mutual benefit. It also delivers a clear message that democracies are working together and ensuring the security and resilience of our supply chains. I very much want to commend both of our ministers, Minister Goyal and Minister Tehan, and the many officials for their great work and their impressive efforts in securing this outcome. I thank, also, our High Commissioner Barry O'Farrell who was sent as our High Commissioner, by myself as a dear and close friend, to be ambassador to my dear and close friend Prime Minister Modi.
I welcome our agreement today as a first step towards full comprehensive economic cooperation agreement between our two great nations by the end of the year. And, I thank you for your commitment and perseverance in securing this great achievement. I thank you also Prime Minister, for your kind wishes in relation to the Women's World Cup, and we look forward to continuing friendly competition. But when it comes to our economies, we are very much on the same team, same team pursuing the economic advancement for both of our peoples. I'm jealous of only one thing, and that was I wasn't able to be at that, what sounded like, a very nice lunch in the Delhi between our ministers and I look forward to being able to join Prime Minister Modi, hopefully in the not too distant future, where we can speak again, but this time face to face.
Press Conference - Western Junction, TAS
2 April 2022
Susie Bower: Look, it's fantastic to have the Prime Minister back here in Tasmania, and especially in Lyons this morning. We've just had a visit here with John and Stuart from Nutrien Ag Solutions and we know in Tasmania and particularly in Lyons, the long and proud history we had of wool, producing some of the best wool in the world. And what is critical when we're looking at exporting that wool is around trade agreements. And so what the Prime Minister is about to announce will be fantastic here for the wool industry, but for agriculture in general. Because Tasmania, and particularly again in Lyons, one of the biggest economic drivers in Lyons is agriculture. And being able to have had that opportunity for farmers to diversify is just a fantastic thing. So without further ado, I'll introduce the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Scott Morrison, to talk about the trade deal.
Prime Minister: Thanks very much, Susie. It's great to be back here in Tassie again today. I'm particularly pleased to be here with Susie Bower, our Liberal candidate here for Lyons who is doing a terrific job. Can I also welcome John Tusken and Stuart Raine who are here with us. And we're standing in the middle, they tell me of about $20 million worth of Tasmanian wool, which is very exciting. To be standing at a place, which is going to see these bales of wool get on a ship, go across to the mainland and find its way to markets all around the world. Because, you know, unless we're producing in our regions, unless our regions are able to realise the opportunities that exist for them, whether it's wool or whether it's crayfish, or whether it's our big resource industries around the country. Unless they're doing that, then the Australian economy isn't achieving everything it can. In order to ensure that Australia continues to have a strong and prosperous future, that our economy is strong, because a strong economy means a stronger future, then we need to be shearing sheep. We need to be harvesting the pastures. We need to be mining the resources. And all of this is occurring in our regions. That is where the wealth of the nation resides. That's why in this year's budget, we invested $21 billion in the health and in the strength and in the prosperity of our regions to unlock that wealth that is there to fuel and to supercharge Australia's continuing economic growth as we come out of this pandemic.
Today, I'm here to announce something incredibly important for Australia. Today we open one of the biggest economic doors there is to open in the world today. We've been working on this for many years, the last three and a half years in particular. We are opening the biggest door of one of the biggest economies in the world in, in India. Now the Indian economy is worth billions and billions and billions all around the world. And there are many countries who want to do more business with India. But it's actually Australia that has been able to secure in the agreement that we've been able to reach, which I'll be, which will be signed today by our trade ministers and witnessed by Prime Minister Modi and I later today. This agreement is an agreement that ensures that whether you're producing wool or whether you're producing crayfish or whether you're mining resources, critical minerals and rare earths, whether you're growing berries or avocados or cherries or beans, producing alumina, all of these are part of this important trade agreement that we've been able to reach with India. I particularly want to thank Dan Tehan, the Minister for Trade, who's done an extraordinary job working together with his counterpart, Minister Goyal, to ensure that we could get to ‘yes’ as part of this agreement. I also obviously want to thank my dear friend, Prime Minister Modi, who we have become very close to over these years as prime ministers, as we've been dealing with the many challenges that we face in our region and in our world. Whether it's dealing with COVID, whether it's dealing with the security issues in the Indo-Pacific or indeed dealing with the economic partnership that we've both been so keen to forge. I also want to pay a special thanks to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who I appointed as a special envoy on this task, working with Dan Tehan. And because of COVID, when there were restrictions on where I could travel as a Prime Minister, Tony was able to go and do some of that work as well. So I want to thank him for his continuing contribution and a willingness to always wanting to be working for Australia and supporting Australia. So thanks very much, Tony. And to Barry O'Farrell, our High Commissioner in India, who has done a terrific job in working as our High Commissioner there to ensure that we could bring this deal to fruition.
What it's all about at the end of the day is jobs. It's all about jobs. And Australia's unemployment rate has fallen from 5.7 per cent down to 4 per cent, and it's no accident. It's the result of a strong economic plan that has taken Australia through the most challenging economic times since we've seen since the Great Depression itself. You know, over the course of this pandemic, we have faced an economic challenge 30 times greater than what the country experienced during the global financial crisis, when Labor were in power. But there's a big difference on the outcomes. In our case, we have got jobs outcomes that are 50 per cent better than Labor were able to achieve. When Labor was in office they took unemployment from 4.2 per cent, where John Howard left them, and they put it up to 5.7 per cent under Kevin Rudd. Under our government, we've got it from 5.7 per cent down to 4 per cent. And we've done that in the middle of the worst recession this country has seen and frankly, the world has seen since the Great Depression itself. Now that's what a strong economic plan delivers, and you cannot deliver that plan unless you have the foresight to be working on the trade agreements, the export agreements that means that we can get our product, the best in the world, and get it out to the rest of the world. And to do that, you've got to open doors. In the last three years in particular we've opened the doors of the UK trade agreement. We've opened the doors of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which represents about 68 per cent or 65 per cent of the world's trade. All of this means jobs. It means jobs in the regions. And when the regions is successful, like here in Tasmania, then all of Australia is successful. And in the cities, they benefit from the great success of our regions and opening up. When we came to government 27 per cent of our trade was covered by these export agreements. Today it's 78 per cent. And what we're doing is we're unlocking the markets around the world for Australians so they can unlock the wealth that is in our regions and they can unlock the jobs. And that's why Australia's economy is so strong. Because of our economic plan to get Australia on the front foot. Whether it's access to markets. Whether it's lower taxes. Whether it's reliable, affordable energy. Whether it's moving us in to the new age of data or digital technologies, which make our businesses even more competitive. Whether it's making sure we make things here in Australia, manufacturing, making important things, seeing the expansion of our resource industries in particular. So all of that combines together to produce a strong economy. Because if you can't manage a strong economy, you can't pay for anything else. You can make whatever promises you like about what you might want to do. But if you can't manage money, if you can't manage a strong economy, then you cannot deliver the stronger future that Australians need. And our government has demonstrated that. And today's agreement with India is further proof, further proof of the success of Australia's economic plan as we've reached out and sought to diversify the markets that Australia is looking to access and they don't come any bigger than India. This is the biggest door we've thrown open in a very long time.
Journalist: The agreement that you're unveiling is more wide ranging than many people expected. But the gains for most sectors are modest, according to experts. Should we see it as an economic document or a strategic one?
Prime Minister: I'd see it as both. I mean, it unlocks significant opportunities for Australia and particularly here in Tasmania. Whether it's in berries or whether it's in wool, ultimately, whether it's in wine, crayfish, all of these, they're all real benefits and they happen straight away. But in addition to that, you rightly say, that it sets out the roadmap to further and further economic cooperation into the future. You know, when we were negotiating the RCEP through ASEAN, India did not come into that agreement, but it was very clear to me afterwards in my discussions with Narendra, with Prime Minister Modi, that there is a real willingness to see Australia and India go forward with a trade relationship. Now this began, I mean, there have been many prime ministers that have sought to bring this to a conclusion. This goes back to 2011, and that's why I particularly wanted to highlight the work of Tony Abbott. And this is why I brought Tony Abbott back into the team to help us actually conclude this arrangement. And so, yes, the door is open now and so we can start walking through it. And here in, we've got 6 per cent of the exports that have come out of this very wool store here, currently go to India. And that figure is going to be able to rise and rise and rise and rise. And it enables our producers to diversify and to be more resilient to the obvious shocks and the obvious issues that are happening in global trade as a result of global security issues.
Journalist: Prime Minister, did you sacrifice chickpeas to get this deal through before the election?
Prime Minister: We were very keen to see this agreement come to a conclusion because we've been working for so many years to achieve it. And once you get the door open, then all of the other opportunities come. And I think that's one of the things that you learn when you've done as many agreements on this as our government has, it's never the end of the discussion. You're always going to have more discussions, but you have to be able to realise the gains that you've made. And you know, these are never all or nothing deals as far as we're concerned. We see all of these as the next step and the next step and the next step. And so it would have been foolish of a government not to have realised the gains and the progress that have been made. And particularly with Prime Minister Modi and I, there's something that we've been working to for many years. Plenty of countries have tried to achieve exactly what's in this document, and they've all failed. And I believe one of the key reasons we've been able to secure this agreement is because we worked on ensuring that the like minded partnership we have on so many issues, on security issues, on regional humanitarian issues, on things that are very important to both countries. This arrangement, this deal, is not just about economics. It's an expression of the deep partnership that Prime Minister Modi and I have already established. Particularly on issues of security, the work we do through the Quad, the work we're particularly doing on critical minerals and rare earths, which is such a big part of Australia's engagement with like-minded countries around the world to secure supply chains. So this is the product of a relationship we've worked very hard on.
Journalist: So if you're doing big business with India when they're been neutral on the Russian invasion, is letting them off the hook when we should be pushing them to be more outspoken?
Prime Minister: This is a sensible and great deal in Australia's interests and in India's interests. I don't think anyone can question Australia's commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine. As I announced yesterday, we'll be going forward with the further support of ensuring that we get the armoured vehicles to Ukraine. And I want to thank the Ukrainian Australians for their response to Australia's efforts. When I was speaking to Stephan Ramallah on the day that President Zelensky addressed the parliament, which I invited him to do, he said he'd been in Ukraine. And he said that Ukrainians were just so encouraged that a country half a world away was there for them. And they had no expectations of a country living as far away as Australia, turning up to support the people of Ukraine. But that's what Australia has done. We have discussions with India and many other countries about those issues. And the relationship that I have with Prime Minister Modi, the relationship Australia has with India, enables us to pursue those issues within that relationship respectfully.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the big issue with agricultural commodities at the moment isn't selling them, it's actually getting them on the ship and getting them where they need to go.
Prime Minister: True.
Journalist: Is there anything in this agreement that's going to address that?
Prime Minister: Well, no, but there's plenty in our economic plan to address that. This agreement is about providing the market access into India. But the freight subsidies that come out of Tasmania to get things from here onto the mainland where they can be exported and we've been supporting those for many, many years, as Tasmanians know. But in addition to that, the world's supply chains and the logistics chains are opening up again, and we've kept them going as a government. I mean, through the IFAM Initiative, which kept planes in the air, supporting and ensuring that we get freight out of the country during a time where the world is effectively closed, has been incredibly important. That's why right now, we are experiencing the greatest economic rebound that we've seen in 70 years. I mean, this is a V-shaped recovery with a kick. We haven't seen something as strong as this in our recovery, and it goes to the points that you're making. You have to realise the opportunities when you come out the other side and the Treasurer and I have always had our eye on that. It hasn't just been about getting us through this pandemic. And our economy, both on growth and on jobs, is stronger than all of the advanced economies in the world. The G7 economies, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan. Australia has outpaced all of those economies on jobs and on the important issues of growth of our economy. Now that has happened because we have preserved our economy through the pandemic and we've set it up for the opportunities that are there now. But you cannot take that for granted. You cannot take agreements like this for granted, that anyone can just turn up and secure these. Plenty have tried before, and they have failed. Plenty have tried before on many other issues. Plenty were trying during the course of the pandemic. But only Australia can say, amongst only a handful of countries, we saved 40,000 lives. We created 375,000 jobs on top of what we had before the pandemic began. And we have the most strong resilience of pandemic preparedness, other than one other country of the world, based on the global surveys.
Journalist: You've denied India's request to waive labour market testing, but have you made other concessions on migration or labour mobility?
Prime Minister: What we've done in those areas, I think, take a very practical approach. I mean, particularly in the area of students and tourists and others. This is an important part of the arrangement. The working holiday visa arrangements, we've put in place up to 1000 there. And we will continue to see those issues develop over time, particularly when it comes to skills. We need more and more skills in this country. We need more people with those skills in this country to support the economy that we aspire to. But our government has always taken a very balanced approach to migration and we've also always been very careful about these issues when concluding these agreements.
Journalist: Prime Minister, in 2007, did you warn Liberal members the party could lose Cook because people thought Michael Towke was a Muslim?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: You didn't say those words?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: You never said he couldn't be trusted because of his left Lebanese background?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: So why are these stories coming out?
Prime Minister : You’ll have to ask them.
Journalist: Prime Minister, there's a 7 per cent unemployment rate in northern Tasmania. Wages are not outstripping inflation at the moment and people are struggling to find affordable rentals, struggling to find housing. How does your economic plan square that circle? It's not really affecting people up here so much.
Prime Minister: Well, I'd say a couple things. First of all, let's start with housing. On housing, and of course, the arrangement with the government here to support many of the social housing projects, and we've supported them in those projects. Secondly, we had the National Housing Finance Investment Corporation, which is there providing incredibly low cost finance to housing associations around the country, including here in Tasmania, to develop more affordable housing. There's the Commonwealth rental assistance, which is provided to I think 1.4 million Australians, to the tune of $5.1 billion dollars every year. The fact that petrol prices are coming down because of the actions that we've taken to ensure that there is cost of living relief now, because Australians need that cost of living relief right now. And we can do that because of a $100 billion turnaround in the Budget in the last 12 months, as a consequence of the economic plan that we've been putting in place. There is the additional tax relief that comes on the 1st of July, when people put their tax return in. Important tax relief and them being able to keep more of what they earn. And the ongoing tax relief, that has been providing in our lower taxes plan, that we've been delivering for many years. There's the additional $250 that will go to pensioners right here in Tasmania within the next few weeks to help them with cost of living pressures. And when it comes to those Australians seeking to buy their own home, we are expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme, saying yes to up to 50,000 a year, every year, and 10,000 of those places are reserved for regional areas like exactly where we're standing today to ensure that they can get access to buying that first home. And what that means is, that scheme means that instead of having to save for 20 per cent deposit, you can save for a 5 per cent deposit. And if you're a single parent, you only have to save for 2 per cent deposit. Now you go to the bank. The bank makes their decision about extending to you the loan. But in the last three years alone, between that and HomeBuilder, the agency I established as Treasurer, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, the Home Guarantee, we've got 300,000 Australians into their own home in just the last three years, including right here in Tasmania. And so we're getting more people into homes that they own in a tough housing market. We're providing more income support through the many measures that we've had to get Australia through this pandemic and now to set them up for the future and ensure that they have cost of living relief now, which includes cost of living relief for rents, through the supports that we've put in place.
Journalist: There's been criticism over the lack of funding for the Tasmanian Battery of the Nation Project and Marinus Link. Will you commit to funding those projects if you are re-elected?
Prime Minister: We are passionate supporters of Marinus Link and Premier Gutwein and I have had numerous discussions over the course of the last three or four months to finalise those arrangements, and we're very close to being able to make an announcement on all of those things. The Battery of the Nation Project, which started with Will Hodgman and when Peter was Treasurer, back when I was a Treasurer at a federal level, when I was talking to Peter about these projects. No two governments at a state and federal level in Tasmania have ever been more passionate about the future of energy production here in Tasmania to be able to light up, not only here in Tasmania, but the rest of the country and ensure we have lower electricity prices. So it's a very important deal. It's a very important infrastructure, not just for Tasmania, but for the whole country. And we'll have a bit more to say about that not too long from now.
Journalist: Are you happy with the endorsements of candidates in New South Wales and will you be ready to call an election next week?
Prime Minister: I'm very pleased with the selections we've made. Two thirds of the selections that I have made together with the Premier of New South Wales and the former Federal President Christine McDiven are women. So I'm very pleased about that. I've always been very serious about that. And I'm particularly pleased that our candidate in Parramatta, Maria Kovacic, this is the former Western Sydney Business Woman of the Year, someone who started Western Sydney Business Women's Initiative, sits on the Parramatta Women's Eels Board. You know, she's from Western Sydney and she's about Western Sydney. She's always been for Western Sydney. And I think she provides a real contrast to Anthony Albanese's captain's pick from the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Our pick is a very strong, effective woman with small business experience, with a background in community support through particularly the Parramatta Eels and encouraging other business women in Western Sydney just like herself. And that's what Western Sydney needs. I've got a great team of Western Sydney women right across Sydney. Maria Kovacic of course joins Melissa out there in Lindsay and Sarah in the Hawkesbury in the seat of Macquarie. And, of course, Fiona in the seat of Reid. We've got a great team of Western Sydney women standing up, in this case, to a team of Labor blokes there in Parramatta. I note also that Anthony Albanese's pick for Parramatta is to bring back the team of Kevin Rudd's economic advisers. You know, we don't need a revival of Rudd economics in Australia. What we need is the continuation of Australia's economic plan. I mean, the greatest hits of that band that Anthony Albanese is seeking to get back together again, including mining tax, so West Australians should remember that. They should remember it means the failed programs when it came to overpriced school halls and they're just horrific cash for clunkers. And of course, there were the terrible schemes that led to those tragedies in the homes of those where the insulation batts were put in place. We don't need a rerun of Rudd economics in Australia. What we need is the economic plan that has ensured that Australia has come through the pandemic in the strongest way possible, outpacing the world's most advanced economies. And one of the key reasons for that occurring has been because of the trade arrangements we have put in place as a government. That we have secured, taking the amount of trade covered by agreements from 27 per cent all the way up to 78 per cent. And that is an extraordinary turnaround. That's what a strong economic plan looks like. That's how the regions will continue to benefit. And Susie, that is particularly why people in the seat of Lyons, but also in Braddon and of course in Bass, these are the things that keeps people in jobs in Tasmania. Keeps Tasmanians exporting the best produce in the world, all over the country and all around the world. And these are the plans to help secure that future for Australia. Thanks very much everyone.
Remarks, Federal Budget Lunch
1 April 2022
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Angus. That's very kind, and that's very generous. You've done an absolutely amazing job. I said when he was, when I appointed him as the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, I said he was the Minister for getting electricity prices down, and the last two years, electricity prices have fallen by eight per cent. So well done, Angus on an extraordinary job. And it's great to be here with you all today.
Can I also, can I begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, their elders past, present and future and emerging. Can I acknowledge any men and women of our Defence Forces and therefore veterans who are here today, as I always love to do, because we have the country that we have because of the sacrifice that they have made. It's that simple. The liberty and freedom we enjoy is down to them, not just the earning of it - in the first case where they've been in conflicts - but the keeping of it. And last night we had the great privilege to hear from President Zelenskyy who gave an impassioned and very moving speech to our Parliament, the centre of our democracy here. And as I was sitting there and I was listening to him, and I've spoken to him before and of course his Prime Minister on several occasions, I couldn't help but think, imagine if that was here in Australia. And we must. We must imagine and we must do everything we can to ensure, we can to ensure that Australia never, ever finds itself in a situation like that. And it's because it's not unimaginable, as President Zelenskyy was reminding us all last night. He reminded us that you must always be vigilant on these things. And like-minded countries must always band together. And when you see bullies and when you see autocracies and you call them out, as I have, whether they're over there in Russia or elsewhere, even in our own region. And that, combined with the investments we make, and the belief we have in our Defence Forces, and our economic security and the strength of our society, that's how we continue to protect one of the world's oldest democracies here in Australia.
Can I, it's always a thrill to be here with John Howard, as I know it is for all of you as well. And so, John, thank you very much for being here today. John has been in more campaigns than anyone in this room, and he's as effective as he's ever been. And I really want to thank you, John, for being on our team, as you always are. You've always said, and Nick and I were talking about here at the table, Alan and I, I should say, were talking about at the table, that John has always acknowledged that the opportunity to serve in public life and do everything he did came through his membership of the Liberal Party and the support of the Liberal Party, and the support of of those who are with us here today in the same way. And I concur, and the same is true for me and all of my colleagues who are here today - Angus and Sussan and David and Jason is here, and it's great to have you here. Dave's here as well, and Dr Michael Feneley is here. Now, Michael stand up for a sec. Dr Michael Feneley is our Liberal candidate for Dobell. I was up there with him just the other day and straight after this he's getting in the car and driving straight back home and knocking on as many doors as he can. And he needs your help up there to support that. And so it's great to have you here, Michael, with us here today, and thank you. He has, I mean, the intellectual horsepower that Dr Michael Feneley brings to our team is extraordinary. And so thank you, Michael, for joining us, and being part of our team.
Can I of course acknowledge Philip Ruddock, the State President, here, and Chris Stone. Can I acknowledge Mark Baillieand the great job he does in our coming on as Treasurer of the Liberal Party here in New South Wales. And thank you very much for taking on that role, Mark.
There are many people here who I've known for a very long time. And they've been great supporters, and you've been there in difficult times, you've been there in great times. I was remarking to John when we came in here - and Fiona, of course, Fiona Martin, I see, it's great to have Fiona here as well - I quite like this room, John quite likes this room, we particularly like coming here on election nights, more often than not. And I'm looking forward to coming back to this room not too long from now again, because in the months ahead, we will engage on an extremely important contest.
You know, we say every time this is the most important election that Australia has seen, and it's always true. It's always true, because at every single election Australians make a choice - either to keep on a direction that has been strong, or to change direction, because an election is a choice, an election the nation decides. And it's a very important decision. And it's not one that's rushed into, I believe, particularly those Australians quietly going about their lives in between elections. As the election comes, they narrow their focus, they make their assessments, they see through the false claims that can be made by Oppositions seeking to sneak their way into government, and they make a call. Because the choice you make in an election, it's not an opinion that you're expressing. It's not a sentiment that you're sharing. It's not a post you make on Facebook. It's not any of those things, because, you know, none of those things have consequences. They don't. When you mark Dr Michael Feneley in the seat of Dobell, or Dave Sharma in the seat of Wentworth, or Fiona Martin in the seat of Reid, Scott Morrison in the seat of Cook, or the Labor alternative, there are consequences that flow from those decisions.
Positive consequences when it comes to the selection of the Government's team in the Liberals and the Nationals, but they are very real consequences of changing course. And that's where I think politics gets very serious. Most of the time, Australians tend not to talk a lot about politics. They talk about other things, things that are happening in their lives each and every day. People in Canberra, they talk about politics all the time. But that's not what they're focusing on, those Australians who are quietly going about their business. But as the election gets closer, they understand it's important, and they focus in.
And they certainly have been this week, as we've announced our Budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has done an outstanding job, together with Simon Birmingham and the whole ERC team, the Budget Committee. This is the eighth budget I've been directly involved with. Firstly on the Expenditure Review Committee back in 2015-16. Christopher Pyne's here, he'll remember, he was sitting around the Cabinet table at that time. He was coming in making submissions to us for the Budget at that time. He was quite successful, too. They were very good submissions, just ask Christopher, he'll tell you. But then three Budgets as Treasurer and that 18-19 Budget that saw Australia bring the Budget back into balance just as we were about to hit the pandemic. And then of course, four Budgets now as Prime Minister.
Now I tell you that, that those eight Budgets, through that process, you learn an enormous amount and they condition you. And when the pandemic hit 2019-20, I was pretty pleased that I had four under my belt going into that Budget, as Prime Minister with the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. I was very pleased because that sort of experience in moments like that count. Now, it's no secret that my opponent at this election has never done one. He hasn't. He wasn't even given the job of sitting on the Budget Committee by any of the Prime Ministers he served under. Never held a financial management portfolio. And today I want to talk a bit about why this is important and talk to you about this year's Budget.
Now you've heard what's in the Budget, and you would have heard it from Sussan, you would have heard it from Angus and Josh and the many other ministers. And they're, you're going to keep hearing about what's in it - over and over again. And that's important. David will be telling you about what's in the Budget for mental health, one of our most significant areas of focus, particularly over these last two years. But I want to tell you a bit more about what's behind it today. I want to share with you the whys and the hows, not just the whats - the decisions and the priorities that you set when you're doing a Budget. It's not a speech. This is a detailed, extensively worked through plan that takes many, many months in its preparations, many hours of working through the details, and if you don't know those details, if you don't know the pitfalls, if you don't know the questions, then you can do a great deal of harm.
I want to talk about what it's trying to achieve. I want to talk about how we're going to do what's in that Budget, because I believe they're the things that should and will determine the choice that Australians make as they go to this election. Because you know, when, as Angus rightly said, and John Howard has said this before as well, when you face a crisis, what matters, then, is, frankly, you may have had any number of different things that you were hoping to do in that moment, but when the crisis hits, it's how you make decisions. The values that underpin those decisions. It's the strength of your resilience and your character that actually is tested in those moments. Now you all know that, having run businesses and been in similar situations, I'm sure, of leadership. It's these things that actually determine. Yes, the public will look at the the various promises that are made and and they'll see that, and Labor's won't add up and they won't be able to fund them. And all those things, and ours are clearly set out in a Budget and people will look at that. But what I'd encourage them to do is go a little bit deeper, because what's a little bit deeper is actually going to determine how people respond in that crisis.
One thing I've learnt from John Howard is what you believe matters. And it's not just what you say you believe five minutes before an election that's mattered. It's what you believed for the last 20, 30 years that matters, because that's when the memory kicks in, in those moments of crisis. So at this election, I come to you as a pretty open book, whether you like it that I play the ukulele or not doesn't matter. I'm not going to be elected on my ukulele playing skills, that's for certain. But my girls like it. And that's what matters to them. But it's not going to matter as to who you're going to pick as a Prime Minister. What is going to matter is something much deeper. And I've set out very clearly all the things I've believed over a very long period of time in public life and backed that up, and the eight Budgets I've been a part of, and you will find the consistent thread guaranteeing the essentials that Australians rely on. How do I guarantee that? By ensuring that we've got an economy that is strong and able to pay for it, and that if you can't manage an economy, if you can't manage the finances, then you can make whatever promise you like on health, you can make whatever promise you like on education. But you may as well written it on tissue paper, because it will just break up. If you don't have a strong economic plan, then you cannot deliver what you say you're going to do. And so Anthony Albanese, frankly, I think, John, you probably agree with this, I think, the Liberal Party supported the Hawke Keating Government on economic policy more than Anthony Albanese did. He would go to Labor conferences and rail against the terrible things that the Hawke Keating Government were doing on economic reform, and he'd pound the table appearing, appealing to his leftie mates in the Labor Party. And now he has the gall to stand there and say he'd be a Prime Minister like Hawke. And even more amazing, he thinks he'd be a Prime Minister like John Howard, someone who he sledged and slammed all the time of that government. Give me a break.
You can't be Prime Minister if you're pretending to be someone else. And the Australian people need to have a good look at who this this chap is. I've known him for a long time. And the things that he says that he believes in now are not the things he was saying and doing for all of his parliamentary life and indeed beyond, because you know what happens when the pressure comes on? That's the stuff that comes out. All the stuff that is written on the tissue paper that you see from the Labor Party at the moment, it will burn up and they'll go to type.
So in talking about, I think this should guide the decisions and understanding the whys and the hows, not just the what. Now Nick Politis is here. I've known Nick for some time, and Nick is a very successful businessman. And regrettably, for the Sharks, he's an even more successful chairman of, I still call it Easts, Nick, I suspect you do, too, but of the Roosters. Not doing as well this year, but they'll come good over the course of the season and we're off to a pretty good start. If I get started on that, I won't shut up, so I'm going to come back to the topic. Nick has been a very successful businessman in running his dealerships in the motor vehicle industry for a very long time. And Nick knows how people make choices. And as business people, you know how people make choices as well. And it's your job as business people to really understand their process and what you need to be able to convince them of when they make that choice. And the best business people are the ones who understand the smart customers. And the best customers are the smart customers, because they're the ones who if you earn their trust, they keep coming back, don't they, Nick, time and time and time again. It's not a one off thing. It is an ongoing relationship. And those smart customers, this is what they do. And this is what I believe the election will be like. They'll do their homework, they won't make a decision that is just on the spur of the moment. They will carefully do their homework. They will diligently look at, identify and they'll test the alternatives. And they'll really consider about what will that, what will that mean for me? Will I get the mileage they want? How much will it cost to run it? What will be the servicing? Can I get spare parts for it? What's the manufacturer? What's the guarantee? All important questions when they're doing their homework, and you know what they won't be, they won't be distracted, will they, Nick, by the, by the flashy features. You can go to the car yards where they've got lots of flashy features, and they're just hoping you don't look under the hood. They're hoping you don't look under the hood. But the smart customers do, and I believe Australians are like that.
And this election campaign is an opportunity to look under that hood. And they're always wary, the smart customers, of those who want to push you for that really quick sale. They want to get you into that little room and not let you leave until you sign. The last thing they want you to do is walk out that door. But the smart customers are always wary of that. And you know what I was thinking of last night when Anthony Albanese was saying, "Call it now, call it now, call it now." He wasn't looking forward to his alternative being looked at by the Australian people over the next couple of months. I guarantee you, they're going to get that chance, Anthony, every single day, and I'm happy to have that measured up against what my Government has been doing every single day. And so I encourage Australians to look under that hood. You're very welcome. I would want you to look at what we're doing. I would want you to look at our record. I would want you to look at our plan and the detailed plans that we have. And I want you to test that in equal detail and in equal measure with what is being put forward by the Labor Party.
You might not find sometimes the flashy gimmicks. But what you will find with us is an after sales service that we've demonstrated. What you will find is a manufacturer's guarantee on our policies that's backed up by consistent economic and strong performance over a long time. Australians know that the Liberal and National parties under my leadership, they know when it comes to managing the economy, when it comes to keeping Australians safe in some of the most turbulent times we've faced, then we can back that guarantee up.
So to talk specifically about the Budget, when you do a Budget, you've got to know where you're starting from and the starting point is different, every single year, the economy has changed an enormous amount and can over, as we've learned, particularly during the pandemic, in a matter of months. And so you got to have a good understanding of the situation that you're facing and the situation we're facing now in this Budget has changed since last year. And you know what, the biggest change is since when the Treasurer has outlined the Budget in May of last year, the biggest change is the Budget bottom line has improved by over one hundred billion dollars. In one year. And why has that happened, because Australia is coming out of the pandemic, economic recession that we had is caused by that, stronger than any other advanced country in the world. Stronger than the United Kingdom, stronger than the United States, stronger than Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada. Stronger than all of them. Both on jobs and on economic growth. Our debt is lower than all of theirs, despite what we've had to do over the last couple of years. Still lower than all of them, still more resilient. Stronger growth, unemployment heading down, underemployment heading down. And that's the situation we now find ourselves in. We've been able to steer the Australian economy through one of the most difficult times, if not the most difficult time since the Great Depression and the Second World War.
So we have been able through our economic plan coming into this Budget to get ourselves in a much stronger position. And it didn't happen by accident. It was not luck. I can assure you. As pandemic, fire, flood, plague would hit us. We weren't feeling very lucky, I can tell you. So despite all that, the economic plan that has seen us through has got us to that point. And the hard work of Australians and their resilience on which our economic plan is based on has got us through to that point. And I was making this point in the Parliament this week and I was saying how unemployment under our government has fallen from 5.7 per cent down to 4 percent. And I said how under the Labor Party, the unemployment rate, that John Howard and Peter Costello left to the Labor Party, had gone from 4.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent. And Anthony Albanese chipped me across the table, he said, oh, you're forgetting the global financial crisis. And I said, where have you been for the last two years? Through this pandemic, we have faced an economic challenge 30 times worse than the global financial crisis, 30 times worse. Yet we have achieved an employment outcome in this country that was 50 per cent better then what the Labor Party did when they were faced with a challenge, which was hard sure, but compared to this one, just not even in the same league. So that's where we are. That was our starting point for this year's Budget and a starting point that was hard earned that we'd spent many years getting ourselves to.
And then you get down to understanding, well, what does this Budget need to do? And these were the three things we knew we had to do. First, we had to deal with the risks that we were facing. We had to then ensure that we secured the recovery that was underway in our economy that we'd worked hard for and built up for. And thirdly, we had to secure the economic opportunities for them for the decades beyond. And on the issue of risk with the war in Ukraine and as we saw fuel prices rise week after week after week, $2.20, $2.30. This was going to pose a great risk to Australia's recovery. Australians, small businesses, others, regional areas in the cities, suburbs getting up off their feet having the confidence to plan and do things they're going to do in the future. And then hit again. Because when fuel prices go up, it's just not what happens at the bowser, everything you consume goes on a truck somewhere and it's driven around the place. And that costs more, and that means the costs of everything go up. That's what's causing this. So we had to deal with it. All of the investment, all of the hard work was being put at risk by this. And so we needed a response that could deal with it. And that's why we have put in place to deal with the here and now the cost of living package, which halved petrol taxes, fuel excise, as it's known. I was out on Londonderry Road this morning, out in Penrith, out that way in western Sydney, down about $1.83. Now we did not anticipate it coming through that quickly and I thank the petroleum companies for moving as fast as they have. But that's real relief. There was one family I was there with this morning that's worth about 50 to 60 dollars a week. On just one vehicle, let alone her husband's vehicle. Because she drives to Artarmon every day from Penrith. So that was an important thing that we had to do, but it's temporary, it's targeted and it's responsible because we're able to make the opportunity through the economy improving after the last 12 months.
Now, Labor said, we should have spent more during the pandemic. In fact, we would have spent if we'd followed them, then we would have spent $81 billion more. They wanted to spend $6 billion on paying people to have vaccines that already had. They wanted to spend, they wanted to see JobKeeper extend out further when it didn't need to extend further because it's time to get back to work and the jobs are open and people can come back. They would have spent an extra $81 billion, and that would have meant you couldn't have done this. So you've got to know when to act and then you need to know when you got to take that off. That's what fiscal responsibility looks like, and that's what we've done. The recovery needs to be secured and so we need to continue on with the investments we're making in lower taxes, particularly for businesses and small business. Small business now pay 25 per cent, but in this Budget, we've got 120 per cent tax deductions for the investments that businesses are making small or medium sized businesses in their digital technologies that they need everything from cloud computing to CRM systems and intelligent design systems to how they run their manufacturing plants. All of that. 120 per cent deduction, 120 per cent deduction for the training they're providing to their staff, particularly their apprentices. We're investing in providing them $15,000 each for their apprentices, we have more trade apprentices in training today than we've had since 1963, 220,000 of them. They could have all gone during the pandemic, but when we stepped in, they were the first jobs we saved in the pandemic because they were last on and they would have been first off and we would have lost a generation of skills. So we took that action. So we need to keep doubling down on this, there’s $3.7 billion in this Budget to ensure we're investing in the skills reform of this country to ensure that our young people in particular, but of all ages are getting trained in the important skills they need for a modern economy. That can be in cyber training, we've got up to $10 billion in this Budget to totally transform what we're doing with our cyber defences and offences in this country to keep Australians safe. But to do that, we need those cyber skills and that's why we're investing in those issues as part of this Budget.
And then it's about the opportunities, the big opportunities of the future. And one of the things I'm most proud about in this Budget is the investments we're making in regional Australia. I didn't hear him say regional Australia once last night when he gave his presentation. Australia is more than the eight capital cities of this country. And the Australian business community understands that because they understand that 82 per cent of our goods exports, they don't come from in our cities. As much as I love my Shire, I can't speak of the broad, sweeping plains of wheat crops. Or the big iron ore mines. I can't. I can talk about plenty other great things I love about my Shire and the services exports that come out of there and the great businesses that are involved in marine manufacturing and all of that. Sure. But when we're talking about goods exports, the wealth of our country, in particular, the future wealth that we need to unlock in this country are in our regions and we have $21 billion worth of investment. So this is about game changing transform over the transformative investments in the Hunter. Now, the Hunter is an exciting place, and Michael knows this as the Liberal Candidate for Dobell. He knows that we're building batteries in the Hunter. And he talked about it last night. It's already happening. I was at the launch, we did the breaking ground. The investments are being made and the reason it's happening is because they're working with Newcastle University, the CSIRO, venture capitalists and others who can see the opportunity of a region like the Hunter. And so we need to invest more in port infrastructure and other key infrastructure there. The same is true up in Darwin, and what's called the Middle Arm is a massive plan in the budget of over a billion dollars, which the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has championed. And that's about unlocking the wealth of our north, combined with the dams that have been highlighted for investment. Hells Gates Dam and others up there in central and north Queensland. And, of course, the Pilbara.
Now, to pay for nuclear submarines, to pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, to pay for all of the things that we know makes a stronger society, you got to dig stuff up out of the ground, you got to make stuff, you got to grow stuff and you got to sell it. And that's what this Budget is backing in. The transformative investments in our regions that unlock the wealth that is there, the North West Minerals Province, the Copper String project will basically electrify the North West Minerals province, and Angus Taylor has been doing a terrific job working on that in his portfolio.
So that's what our plan does. Our plan deals with the risks of now. Ensures that we secure this recovery that's underway. One of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the advanced world. And seizes those big transformative opportunities in the future.
Now, the last thing I wanted to mention. It's one thing to know what to do and why you want to do it, but you need to be able to know how to do it. Now, I've largely already covered this. And that's why I told you about the many Budgets our government has done and I personally have been involved in because it makes a difference. And we learned this during the pandemic. There were plenty of people who told us at the start of the pandemic, they said, oh you need to do this and this and you need to do this. That was actually the easy part. The fact that we would need some income support for people who were going to lose their jobs because we were shutting down the Australian economy to save 40,000 lives, which we did. But the hard part was how? And JobKeeper was a great example of that. We knew that we had to use existing distribution channels that we knew worked to get that money to people, otherwise they would lose confidence and all would be lost. And it worked. Employers working with government, working with the finance community saved 700,000 jobs. Now, others said to us it should just be done by the government and and we should just do it out of Centrelink. Centrelink was not built for the global pandemic. The pandemic was bigger than anything the Government could deal with, I knew that we would need to bring together the whole community. Formed the National Cabinet. Got all the states lined up. Worked with the economic community, the business community, the banking community, worked with our tourism industry, worked with our primary producers, our mining companies, everybody. And we pulled this together. Because, you know, if you don't know how to do it and if you haven't got an economic plan to pay for it, as well motivated as you might be, the sort of ‘no child will live in poverty’ type promises are made and I heard a few of those last night. All you end up doing is more harm. You could be as well motivated as you like, but if you don't know what to do and worse, you don't know how to do it. Then all you end up doing is making it worse, and that's the risk for Australians in the choice that they need to make at this election. We know how to do it. We've done it and we've got the plan to keep doing it.
We know how to run a strong economy, because we have in the worst set of economic circumstances, anyone arguably in this room has ever experienced. Particularly going all the way back to the Great Depression. But yet during that situation thirty times worse, then what Labor had to deal with during the GFC, we got outcomes that were 50 per cent better. That's what good economic management looks like. That's the manufacturer's guarantee you can take from our Government when we put our commitments to you at this next election. That's the choice when you start looking under the hood at this election and really starting to interrogate because, you know, the last couple of years, people have been focusing what they've had to focus on the trials and the difficulties caused by the pandemic and the floods and the fires and the floods continuing up in northern New South Wales now. But as this election comes, they will look and I will give them plenty of time to look. Anthony Albanese wants it on this Saturday before there's time for everyone to have a good look at this character and a good look at the Labor Party. He's the most left wing Labor Party leader we have seen some have said, even I, since Gough Whitlam. I think you can go back further. I think that's a bit rough on Gough. I think you'd have to go back to Doc Evatt. Australians need to have a good look at this character.
I'm happy to stand up every day. I've got the shoulders for it, I've got the resilience for it. I've got the energy for it, as Angus said. I love this job. I love this job and I love the opportunity it gives me to support Australians in their worst of times every single day. Our plan, our Budget, is set out. Labor, after another three years, have still not got an economic plan. All this time and all we have with Labor is a tired old Opposition still with no plan. The relics of an old failed government. By contrast, you've seen the calibre of my team. Sussan and Angus and David and the others who are here with us today. Do you want Josh Frydenberg as Treasurer? Or Jim Chalmers, never done a Budget, not once, and if he did his first one, you know, who he's going to be calling? His old boss, Wayne Swan. That's not going to help. Do you want Peter Dutton as Defence Minister? Or do you want Brendan O'Connor? And you might say who? Good point. Not even Anthony Albanese wants him to be the Defence Minister, if we listen to the rumours that are going on. He's already made the choice. He's for Peter Dutton. Do you want Marise Payne, who's worked with me to put in place the strongest and biggest Defence agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom since ANZUS 70 years ago? Or do you want Penny Wong? This is the time for choice, Australians, and I know those quiet Australians, they are quietly making their way to those two cars. And it's time for them to look under the hood, and I know what they'll find with us and I know they'll be pleased with it. And when they look at the alternative, then I think they will make a very sound decision in Australia's national interest. Thank you so much for your attention.
Press Conference - Jamisontown, NSW
1 April 2022
MRS MELISSA MCINTOSH MP, MEMBER FOR LINDSAY: Hi, everyone, I'm Melissa McIntosh, the Member for Lindsay, and it is fantastic to welcome the Prime Minister to Jamisontown this morning with Katie and Lachlan, who have recently purchased their very first home, along with their little dog Gizmo. It's fantastic to be here today. Western Sydney is the heartland of young families who are working so hard to get ahead to buy their first home, to also get that local job so they don’t have to do that long commute, whether it’s sitting in their car or on a train to work, and to secure a stronger future, a better future, a brighter future for their families. And the Morrison Government is backing that. We're backing it through our Budget. We're backing it through our policies, and we’re backing it with our plan, the Prime Minister's plan for a stronger future for families, just like we have here today. Thank you very much, and Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Melissa. It's great to be here, and Katie and Lachlan, thank you very much for having us in to your home, your home …
KATIE AND LACHLAN: [CROSS TALK] No, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: … your first home, today, and it was great to be here with Dani and Chris also and to be able to talk to them about their aspirations to be doing exactly what Katie and Lachlan are here doing today.
Before I talk about how that's all been made possible, I just want to make some remarks about the very moving address we had yesterday from President Zelenskyy from Ukraine to the Australian Parliament last evening. I invited President Zelenskyy to come and speak to our Parliament, and it was a truly momentous occasion, and I can tell him after yesterday we announced $25 million in further support, military support. We're not just sending our prayers, we're sending our guns, we're sending our munitions, we're sending our humanitarian aid, we're sending all of this and body armour and all of these things, and we're going to be sending our armoured vehicles, our Bushmasters as well. And we’re flying them over there on our C-17s to make sure they can be there to support.
And so I thank President Zelenskyy for coming and addressing our Parliament and reminding, not just all of us who were in the Parliament last night, I think, but all Australians, of what is at stake here. When you have one nation bullying another, a democratic nation whose territorial sovereignty has been violated and war crimes being committed in the Ukraine by Russia, then this is something that Australians will never stand for. And so we stand with Ukraine. But President Zelenskyy had a, had a key warning, I think, for the whole world: that if you let it, a bully do this in Ukraine, then there are bullies elsewhere, and there are those in our own region who should be watching on to see how the world, and the western world in particular, stands together and stands up against bullies, and though we might be half a world away, as I said last night, Australians are standing with the people of Ukraine. And I was heading, speaking to the, to the head of the Ukrainian Association here in Australia once again last night who I invited to join us for that address, Stefan Romaniw. And Stefan has been in the Ukraine, and he said what Ukrainians are saying on the ground is they are just so encouraged that Australia, half a world away, has been at the leading edge of providing support. So as they keep asking and they keep working with us to define what they need to save their country, we will continue to support them.
But here today, I'm very pleased to be here with Katie and Lachlan because they have achieved something that so many Australians aspire to. You know, there are the great aspirations in life - to be able to buy your first home, to get a great education, to be able to raise your kids and give them the best opportunities in life, to buy your own home, and then to save for your retirement and be independent in your retirement. These are the great goals of Australians. These are their aspirations, and our job is to try and help Australians achieve those aspirations. And that's exactly what my Government has been doing.
Before the last election, I said that we're going to help more Australians get into their own homes. It was one of the key commitments we made at the last election, and we came up with a plan, a fully funded plan, a well thought through plan that understood the challenge that young Australians, in particular, were facing. And that is, saving for that deposit can just get beyond people and people give up hope. And many were, and we had to change that. And so we came up with the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, now called the Home Guarantee Scheme, and that means that you're not saving for a deposit of some 20 per cent of a price that's, is so hard and is increasingly making owning a home a challenge. But you need to get to five per cent, and that is a game changer, and it certainly was for Katie and Lachlan.
I've spoken to people around the country and it's saved them up to eight years to get into their first home. Now through this program, the HomeBuilder program, the First Home Super Saver Account, and support we've put through the National Housing, Finance and Investment Corporation, we have got more than 300,000 Australians into owning their own home. That's what we've delivered. That's what our economic management, that's what our careful planning and discipline in Budget has delivered for Australians. More than 300,000, and Katie and Lachlan are two of those Australians, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be standing with them here in front of their own home, that's theirs, and that we have had a direct role in ensuring that they could walk in the front door of their own home.
Now, in the Budget, we have extended that program. You know, when you're doing something, it’s working, you keep doing it. You don't change course. You don't go off on another track. And the Home Guarantee Scheme is working. So we're expanding it to 50,000 each year, with 10,000 places specifically reserved for those in the regions. But there are many others, I know, who will continue to rent. My grandparents rented for their entire lives, and there are many Australians for whom home ownership will be beyond their reach. And that's why there's 1.4 million Australians every year who get the support of Commonwealth Rental Assistance. It's $5.1 billion that we put in to help them with the cost of their rents. It's an important scheme, and it's one that we're very committed to.
There are many other programs we’re doing to support Australians with the cost of living pressures. On the way here, I saw petrol in just over $1.80 a litre. Now that is flowing through to the bowser, our halving of petrol taxes, far quicker than even we had anticipated. Now I welcome that, and I thank the the petrol companies for moving quickly on it and passing on those savings straight away, because Australians need that cost of living relief, they need it now, and we're delivering it now. And the reason we can do it in such a targeted way and a responsible way is because we’ve turned the economy around.
Australia is experiencing the biggest recovery that we've seen economically in 70 years. Unemployment has fallen to four per cent, from 5.7 per cent when we came to government. And because we've run a strong economy, because we have a plan to keep our economy strong, it means that we can invest in providing that cost of living relief right now and also plan for the future, with more apprenticeships, keeping electricity prices down by eight per cent, building for our energy economy of the future, ensuring that we're making things here, and as Melissa and I love to say all the time, we make things in Australia, but we really make things here in Western Sydney. So the jobs are here, and not just the opportunity to own your own home. So it's great to be here with you, Kate and Lachie. And I congratulate you for everything you've achieved, and it's great to be here as your dream has been realised, and they renovated as well during a pandemic. So, you know, well done. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on sending the armoured troop carriers to Ukraine, we've heard in Estimates that could be up to four. Do you have an indication how many carriers will be sent and when that will be [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Defence Minister and I discussed this last night and again today. We'll be confirming those details and I'll be confirming those with the Ukrainian President as well, and their Prime Minister and their Defence Ministers. We've been in constant dialogue around a whole range of issues. And so we'll confirm the details of that, but I think you can anticipate that the support will be greater than that.
JOURNALIST: Bob Katter is calling for national service to be used to bolster defence in Australia. Do you back this?
PRIME MINISTER: Ah, no, that's not one of our plans. Our plan for defence is to put 18,500 additional people into the Air Force and the Army and the Navy, and that starts now. We're at 60,000 now. This will go to 80,000, and we'll keep building up year on year on year as we recruit. And one of the reasons we'll be able to recruit them in is because of what we're investing in Defence Force capability. We've lifted our investments in the Defence Forces from where we had it under Labor, which was around 1.56, 1.57 per cent of the size of our economy, up to two per cent. Now what does that do? What that means is if we'd left defence spending at where it was, at where it was when we inherited it and we came into government from Labor, $55 billion less would have been spent on our Defence Forces. You know what that would have meant? It meant that we wouldn't be able to be providing the support we're providing to our neighbours in the Pacific, which we've been able to do. To be able to be here in Western Sydney just recently as the terrible floods came through and the Defence Forces were able to respond. It would mean that we're not able to do what we're able to do right now to support Ukraine. We've invested in our Defence Force capability and people who go into Defence Forces want to be able to know that they've got a Government who believes in what they're doing. When Labor were in government, they cut defence spending. They actually said, “No, you should get less.” What sort of a message is that to people who are prepared their own life on the line to defend their country, when they had a government under Labor which cut defence spending. We knew it was a priority. We restored it, and we've ensured that we're spending on the things they need to do their job and keep them safe at the same time.
JOURNALIST: On aged care workers, if the Fair Work Commission does approve a pay increase for those workers, will the Coalition pay for that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, we'll have to ensure, working with the industry, that Fair Work Commission decisions are honoured. And so this is, this is a false sort of policy that Labor's running around with. Even their own aged care spokesperson has had to admit this. Anthony Albanese’s great policy is to write somebody a letter. That doesn’t change anything. The Fair Work Commission will make their decision.
Aged care is a very complex and challenging area of policy. And the issues in aged care require careful thinking, deliberation and decisions. Now what's important about that is I called the Royal Commission into Aged Care, and in the Budget last year we handed down a comprehensive package - $17.7 billion, the biggest ever increased investment in aged care the country has ever seen, because we understand how serious and difficult this issue is. Now, with what we've put in this Budget, that is now up over $19 billion. And so, you know, you've got to understand what you're doing in this space. It's very complex. Even the leader of the Labor Party Anthony Albanese said, he said nurses are hard to find, so it hasn't got any easier. They're not just going to turn up. And so you face the situation with what he's spoken about is that you could see aged care facilities close, particularly in regional areas, because of their inability to get nurses. Now these are aspirationally good things to do, but you've got to know how to do them. And, you know, if you don't know what you're doing, you only make the situation worse. May be seeking to try and make the situation better, but if you can't deal with the details of of government, and this is why, this is my, been my eighth Budget. I did one on the, on the Budget Committee, three as a Treasurer and then four as Prime Minister. And when you've done that, you understand the complexity and the detail.
Australians know dealing and fixing the problems in aged care is not simple. A speech doesn't solve the problem in aged care. And if he thinks what he's talking about only costs $2 billion, that only underscores that he really doesn't understand the detail and the complexity of these issues. Things we're working towards there, I believe across the Parliament, are shared. I think we're trying to achieve the same things. But the difference is, we've got a plan to pay for it. We've got an economic plan, which he didn't deliver last night, and we've got an understanding of the complexity of these problems and a package of over $19 billion to deal with it.
JOURNALIST: How much has the Government set aside in any contingency, though, to pay for increases?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's impossible to know what that is. And so we're aware of those risks. But Anthony Albanese has signed his opposition up, and he can’t tell you what that's going to cost. He just can't tell you what it's going to cost. And, you know, this is the thing - he knows the cost of nothing. If you know the cost of nothing, well, you can't trust him with the finances. And I think at the first hurdle, the first hurdle today, last night, where he had to put forward an economic plan as to how he was going to take the Australian economy forward, he didn't do it. That's what he had to do last night. Josh Frydenberg set out a very comprehensive economic plan on Tuesday night on behalf of our Government. On Thursday night, didn't get one. Fail. And then today, he was asked point blank, there on the Today Show, “Will you increase taxes?” Not just once, not just twice, but on three times, he was asked, “Will you increase taxes?” He fudged it, couldn't answer it.
Well, let me be very clear, because it's a very simple question to answer. There are no increases in taxes or new taxes in the Budget we handed down this week and there won’t be any under the Government that I have led and will continue to lead. It's a very easy question to answer, Anthony. And if you can't answer on the first day we've got out of Parliament that you won't increase taxes, well, people are starting to get a good look at you. And that's what the election campaign is all about. Scrutiny that will come. Australians will make an important choice. And you've got to be able to bear up to that scrutiny. And if you don't know that detail, if you haven't put a Budget together before, like the Labor Party hasn't in Anthony Albanese, well, you just don't have, you just don't have the skills and experience to be able to deal with these difficult issues.
JOURNALIST: Zali Steggall says that she's more likely to support the Coalition in a hung Parliament if you're not leader. Would you stand aside if it helped the Coalition retain government by securing supply of people like Zali Steggall?
PRIME MINISTER: As we go to this election, we've set out a very clear economic plan, and that economic plan is backed up by the delivery of a strong economy, stronger than we've seen in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Japan. And we've done that through a pandemic that has saw unemployment fall from 5.7 per cent down to four per cent. When Labor were in power, they took an economy with 4.2 per cent unemployment under John Howard and took it up to 5.7 per cent. And you know what happened in the Parliament this week? When we said that in the Parliament, Anthony Albanese came across the table and he said to me, “Well, you know, you're forgetting the GFC.” Seriously? The GFC, compared to the global pandemic and the global recession that we've been in. That's what we've had to deal with as a government. And we got unemployment down. Under Labor when they were in government and they were faced with challenges, a fraction of what we've dealt with, unemployment went up. And so I'm leading a government, and I'm leading a Liberal National team that is putting itself forward for re-election in its own right. And just as we did last time, that's what we plan to do again on this occasion.
JOURNALIST: So you wouldn't stand aside?
PRIME MINISTER: No, the people of Australia get to make their choice about who should lead this country. And it's, the key decisions are around economic security and national security. Who can keep Australians safe, who's demonstrated that? Who will keep our economy strong for a stronger future, and who has demonstrated that with the experience and the track record, and most importantly, the plan for the future? That's what I've put forward. Anthony Albanese has done none of that. So that's the choice.
JOURNALIST: You're a long way behind in the polls. How are you going to turn it around?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve heard that many times before.
JOURNALIST: Just to be totally sure on aged care, though, you did mention your work with the sector? Are you saying the Coalition will pay for any increase?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll, the Fair Work Commission finding has to be honoured, and of course it will be.
JOURNALIST: Apparently your car ...
JOURNALIST: This is a lighter note. I know the Budget's very important, but obviously you're in Penrith today. We’re the local Penrith paper, so I have to ask you …
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
JOURNALIST: Do you think Panthers is going to be able to beat Rabbitohs again in the grand final match that's tonight? Be very careful with your answer.
PRIME MINISTER: I believe the Panthers would beat the Rabbitohs.
JOURNALIST: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: But Sharks are playing too, and you know who I back on that score.
JOURNALIST: Are you waiting to call the election because the New South Wales candidates haven't been finalised?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'm really, I’m glad you asked that question. I heard Anthony Albanese say last night, “Call the election now.” What he would like is to be able to skate through to an election without facing the scrutiny of a real campaign. You know, Australians have been through a lot over the last couple of years. And they’ve rightly been focusing on the things that have been happening in their own lives, in their own communities, and pushing through, whether buying and renovating a house, or just making ends meet, keeping your business together, dealing with the catastrophes of floods and fires and the pandemic. Australians have had to push through all of that. But now there's an important choice to make, and I'm not going to let Anthony Albanese skate in under the radar. He likes to think of himself as a small target. But when it comes to managing the economy and keeping Australians safe, he's a blank page, not a small target. So I'm going to give Australians the opportunity to have a very close look. They've had a close look at me and they know what I can do. They know what I deliver, whether it's 300,000 people into their own homes, as I promised we would do, or it's in keeping Australians safe, bolstering our Defence Forces, standing up for Australia in our own region against the bullies who would seek to coerce us. Australians know that about me, but they need to take a close look at this bloke. Because if he wants to be Prime Minister, and as we've seen in just the last 24 hours, didn't deliver an economic plan, wasn't able to even give a guarantee that he wouldn't increase taxes when asked three times. Two fails, and we're just getting started. Thanks very much everyone.
Ministerial Statement: His Excellency Mr Volodymyr Zelenskyy
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr President, Ukraine and Australia are separated by half the Earth. Our languages, accents, histories and cultures are different, but we share an affinity for democracy, for freedom, freedom of speech, expression and a free press. For the right to live free of coercion, intimidation and the brute fist of force. And a belief in our shared human dignity.
Mr President, the people of Australia stand with Ukraine in your fight for survival. Yes, you have our prayers, but you also have our weapons, our humanitarian aid, our sanctions against those who seek to deny your freedom and you even have our coal. And there will be more.
Today, I announce an additional package of defensive military assistance to assist in the defence of your homeland, including tactical decoys, unmanned aerial and unmanned ground systems, rations and medical supplies.
Mr President, our pledge is that when freedom prevails, Australia will help the people of Ukraine rebuild as well. Here today in the home of Australia's democracy, we welcome you, Mr President, as a lion of democracy. We honour you and the incredible courage of your people whom you lead. We are witnesses to it with all of those around the world, as you call them, strong people of an indomitable country and may that be so.
We stand with you, Mr President, and we do not stand with the war criminal of Moscow, Mr President. I know that man. You know that man. We know that man, Mr Speaker. And we know his regime. We have seen them unleash unspeakable horror against your children, your hospitals and shelters.
And we remember the downing of a civilian airliner carrying 298 innocents, including 38 Australians. And we remember them also on this day. In their name and in the name of 25 million Australians and their elected representatives, I welcome you, Mr President. I welcome you to our Parliament. I welcome a great friend of Australia.
Remarks, The Alliance Dinner Canberra, ACT
29 March 2022
Prime Minister: Well, good evening, everyone. You may know me as that fellow down under. But I thank Annabelle for that very warm introduction. Can I also thank Lachlan and Sarah, who is here tonight, for their generous support of this evening. To Mark and all the team at the Centre. And can I especially start tonight by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people. Can I thank all of those who are here present tonight. Can I thank the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and acknowledge their elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge, as I always do, our veterans and members of our Defence forces who are here tonight. And can I also acknowledge those from the United States and their Defence forces, or any veterans of the United States who are here tonight and simply say thank you for your service, for your valour. To the combined allied forces of the United States Studies Centre, the American Australian Association, the Perth USAsia Centre, thank you all for the work you've done to finally bring this night together. Also I acknowledge the leader of the opposition, Anthony Albanese, who is here this evening. My many ministerial colleagues, in particular the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is here this evening, Marise Payne, and my many other colleagues who join us on this important occasion. Can I of course acknowledge former Prime Minister John Howard. You will not find a greater champion of the Alliance than former Prime Minister John Howard. And it's a great pleasure to have you joining us here this evening on this very important night. Can I also acknowledge the many ambassadors who are here tonight, former ambassadors to the United States and indeed, I'm sure there'll be perhaps some who have served here in the U.S. Embassy here in Australia. Particularly, can I acknowledge Joe Hockey, who is here and immediately preceded Arthur Sinodinos, who is obviously on the job tonight over there in the United States. And Joe, none of us will ever forget the tremendous reception we had when I visited the United States in 2019.
Colleagues and friends, tonight we mark, somewhat belatedly, but nevertheless importantly, the 70th anniversary of the signing of the ANZUS Treaty on the 1st of September of 1951. And though I'm reminded that ANZUS Treaty actually took effect from 29th of April 1952, we remember tonight the foresight of those who were present at the creation. Menzies, Truman, Spender, Acheson, Foster Dulles and more. Not a bad roll call of those fathers who founded this agreement. We recall and celebrate the commitment of all sides of politics to this Alliance over the past 70 years. As I said before, the ANZUS Treaty breathes and adapts to each passing generation. It has been stewarded by 14 Presidents and 14 Prime Ministers since Sir Robert Menzies. We think back to the age of peril and uncertainty that gave rise to this Treaty in the early stages of the Cold War - in the shadows of the Marshall Plan, the Communist take over Czechoslovakia, the Berlin airlift, NATO ratification and North Korea's invasion of South Korea. In the 70 years of ANZUS, Australia and the United States have stood together through thick and thin. Drawing on a relationship and proceeded it, it now goes back over 100 years, as we celebrated 100 years of mateship so recently. Elsewhere in the world tonight though, the right of a free nation to be sovereign is under attack once again in Ukraine. And is being answered by the wholehearted determination of a free people who refuse to live under tyranny. Sir Robert Menzies once spoke about what is in the bones of the people of Australia and the United States. The words were poignant when we think about our Ukrainian friends and their fight. He said, "We live in freedom and will accept no other life. We govern ourselves in democracy and will not tolerate anything less. We cherish liberty and hold it safe, providing hope for the rest of the world. We share a fear that reaches into our souls." The Alliance we honour tonight is just 11 articles and a little more than 800 words. A promise of two peoples based on trust, commitment and a willingness to sacrifice for each other. As Percy Spender, in many ways, the chief architect of ANZUS and our then Ambassador to the United States, said at the signing, "We declare to the world that our peoples share a common destiny." And that has indeed been true. This is a partnership of values, not of contract and certainly not of contradiction. It is not a relationship of transaction. It is a bond that goes deep and is ever lasting. In this age where peace, stability and prosperity can certainly not be assured, I affirm our Australian pledge: that we look to the United States but we will never leave it to the United States. We come to this partnership as equals. We come to this partnership bringing everything we have and to share it and to ensure that we can meet the challenges together. We stand in an Alliance of trust, commitment and sacrifice. An Alliance that continues to be renewed for our times.
Over the past eight years, Australia has been undertaking the most comprehensive expansion of our defence capability in our lifetimes. We have increased the defence budget, as a share of our economy, from 1.56 per cent of our economy to almost 2.1 per cent this year. Over the next decade, we're investing some $578 billion on defence, half of which is for enhanced defence capability. Our shared intelligence commitments represent another major pillar of the Alliance. With challenging and changing geopolitical realities - where technological advantage for our intelligence agencies is more important than ever - Australia is, as always, stepping up to do more. We look to, but we never leave it to the United States. To further bolster our intelligence partnership, I announce tonight the Government is establishing the Cyber and Critical Technology Intelligence Centre, to be led by the Office of National Intelligence. The multi-agency Centre will ensure Australia, working with our allies, can better anticipate and capitalise on emerging technologies. Working with non-government R&D partners as well, we will be able to better fund, shape and deploy cutting-edge science, research and technology to deliver better capabilities into the future. Beyond defence and intelligence, today Australia and the United States work together on a wide and expanding canvass - cyber security, space, supply chain resilience, critical minerals, quantum computing, low emissions technologies and so much more. And we're moving ahead at pace and at depth with our AUKUS partnership - a reflection of the deep trust between the United States and the United Kingdom and Australia. The most significant defence partnership agreement Australia has entered into since ANZUS itself. The acquisition of nuclear powered submarine technology through this partnership will be the generational boost to the ADF's capacity. And with our partners in the Quad, Australia and the United States are working to secure a free and open and resilience Indo-Pacific. And tonight, our quest for a world order that favours freedom has never been more urgent and it has never been more pressing. The stakes could not be higher. Beyond those doors, the lights of ANZAC Parade direct our attention to the Australian War Memorial. And a permanent reminder of the sacrifices of Australians for the freedoms that we hold dear. Ladies and Gentleman, our alliance is one choice.
And I think tonight of one such moment of choice that the alliance that we share. 18 years ago, seven sailors from the USS Firebolt were in waters off the Iraqi coast. They saw a small fishing dhow getting too close to an oil terminal and as they approached, the dhow exploded. A suicide attack on critical infrastructure. Americans capsized. Not far away, an Australian Seahawk helicopter was on patrol. And it moved quickly above the firey waters. A rescue was not possible. So a member of the crew, Ben Sime, jumped into the oily waters knowing he couldn't be winched out. And in the midst of fire, smoke, injury and chaos, Ben administered first aid in the water - and helped the wounded to a life-raft. Sadly, three Americans were killed in that attack but four survived. That night was 24 April. It was the eve of ANZAC Day. And every ANZAC Day since, Ben pauses to remember the fallen Australian and American alike. Service personnel who, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, gave "the last full measure of devotion." Warrant Officer Ben Sime, a recipient of the Medal of Gallantry, is with us tonight. We thank you, Ben. And we thank all of those who wear both the uniform of Australia and the United States. We honour all who have served under our flags. All who have fought, lived and died for freedom. Ben, comes from a long tradition. Les Bull Allen. People may know the story of Les, as he pulled 11, 11 marines off the steep decent of Mount Tambu in New Guinea during the Second World War. He was given the Silver Star and when I went to see the President, in 2019, we presented him with a bronze statue of Les Bull Allen. As Les was pictured there, immortalised in this statue, carrying that American marine up. I think that symbolises so much of what our relationship is about. There'll be times when we'll carry our American friends. And there are times when American friends will carry us. But at all times, we are carrying the values and the beliefs that we hold dear, each of us, which will always ensure that this is an alliance, that this is a friendship, this is a bond that can never be broken. And any who seek to break it will learn that at their peril. Thank you for your attention.
Press Conference - Luddenham, NSW
28 March 2022
Peter Jensen, First Nations Engagement Manager, Western Sydney Airport: Hello, everybody. Awesome to see you guys here today. My name’s Peter Jensen, I'm the First Nations Engagement Manager for Western Sydney Airport. I’ve just come along today to do our acknowledgement of country. When coming to, when coming onto country it’s custom to let our old people know that we’ve arrived, to pay our respects and to move on. I'd like to acknowledge the Darug, Gandangara and Dharawal people, Aboriginal people who lived on this land for thousands of years. I'd like to acknowledge [inaudible], the lyrebird. I’d like acknowledge all our elders past and present. Thank you very much for coming. Just pass on to Melissa McIntosh, Member for Lindsay.
Mrs Melissa McIntosh MP, Member for Lindsay: Thank you. Thanks so much PJ for that beautiful welcome. I'm Melissa McIntosh, the Federal Member for Lindsay. I'd like to welcome the Prime Minister here today, as well as Paul Fletcher, Urban Infrastructure Minister, as well as Simon and Paul, Western
Sydney Airport. And most importantly, to all the local employees, including Julie from Penrith. It is so fantastic that we, Western Sydney, are such a powerhouse when it comes to building things and employing local people. And the Morrison Government is investing in record breaking investments into projects like this. This is nation-building projects, this is investing in our local people, most importantly, and it's investing in the strength of our country. And it's quite exciting for me as a local Member of Parliament to think right here in the not too distant future, planes will be taking off, not only with local people enjoying the world again, but taking off with local produce, with local Aussie made products made in Western Sydney, grown in Western Sydney, and that is so exciting to see. But most importantly, it's about local jobs, and Western Sydney Airport is already smashing their targets of 30 per cent. We're already at almost 50 per cent local employment. And we also have the Connectivity Centre in Penrith, which I'm really proud of because that's connecting local people again to the job opportunities right here at Western Sydney International Airport. So thank you very much for being here today, and I'd like to introduce Simon from Western Sydney Airport.
Mr Simon Hickey, CEO, Western Sydney Airport: Thanks, Mel, and thanks PJ for that welcome to country. Well, we're here today to announce the start of the runway works for Western Sydney International. It is from this very runway that in less than five years, people from Western Sydney will take off to be connected to the world. This runway is one of the most advanced runways in the world. We're actually going to have a CAT IIIB system which will enable aircraft to land in any weather conditions. And so when fog is closing down the rest of Sydney, aircraft will be landing and taking off at Western Sydney International. This runway is 3.7 kilometres, which really means it can take any aircraft in the world. It can take the ultra long haul 777X, or the extra large A380, and take that and connect people to the world. It's a sustainable project that we're working on here, and actually we're standing right now on sandstone that's been brought here from WestConnex, a great recycling project connecting really big projects here in New South Wales. And I'd like to acknowledge and say how delighted we are with the announcement this morning about the business case that’s going to be looked at connecting the Metro that goes through this airport and connecting it from Bradfield down to Glenfield. That's a really important connection for the airport. It means that the people of Liverpool can connect to the airport. It means that the people of Campbelltown can connect to the airport. It means that the two airports are connected via Metro, and it means that people can get directly into the city from this airport. So it's really connecting the west with the west and the west with the east. And I think that having a connected Sydney is so important to the future of Sydney and the future of this airport. So with that, I'd like to hand over and welcome the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Simon, and can I thank PJ for his welcome to country. It's great to be here with you, Melissa, doing an outstanding job here in Western Sydney, and to our two Pauls - mine, the Minister, he’s done a, Paul and I have been on this journey on the Western Sydney International Airport, the Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, for a very long time [inaudible], as well as Chairman of the Western Sydney Airport Company here on behalf of the Government making this a reality.
And can I say, thank Julie Moore for that wonderful ride up and down the runway here. I said to Julie that I've driven down Conrod Straight with Mark Skaife and that was pretty exciting. But I’ve got to say, driving down the runway that we've been waiting in this city 60 years for was a real thrill. And to be doing it as Prime Minister with Julie in the cab of her truck was quite an exciting moment for all of us.
Can I acknowledge all the other workers here at Western Sydney Airport and thank them for the great job they're doing and as Melissa was telling us, around half of the jobs here on Western Sydney Airport are from Western Sydney. People in Western Sydney are building this airport. We make things here in Western Sydney, and as Melissa McIntosh and I often say, and Sarah Richards and the whole team out here in Western Sydney, we make things, we manufacture things and we build things and we build big things. And this is a big thing. And you know, in this country, what, we want to build even more.
There’s 1,200 jobs alone in just the construction of this runway - 1,200 jobs. And that's part of 11,000 jobs that are created by this massive project here for the airport. But you know, that's part of 120,000 jobs that have been created and are underway right now in the pipeline and of projects that we're delivering in infrastructure right across this country. We are building a stronger Australia - airport by airport, road by road, rail by rail, port by port. We're doing that all around the country, and we're going to add to that 120,000 jobs in the Budget on Tuesday night with another 40,000 jobs by extending out our pipeline of projects from $110 billion to $120 billion, and expanding that jobs army that we've seen through our infrastructure projects around the country.
We're doing a number of things. We're getting Australia the skills we need. What I'm excited about about this project is 30 per cent of the people working on this project are apprentices, 30 per cent. And that is building a workforce here. Not just a runway, not just an airport, but it's building a skilled workforce, particularly out here in Western Sydney, which will be able to apply themselves to so many other endeavours and projects over the course of their careers, which will make Australia stronger. But this massive set of infrastructure works, which we're announcing on Tuesday night, which includes faster rail in Queensland and in New South Wales in particular, faster rail to places like Newcastle, up to the Sunshine Coast, safer and better roads right across the country, whether down in Tasmania or South Australia, or out in the rural and regional areas of the country - major programs to build safer roads and better roads.
But it's also about connecting better, connecting better. And the intermodal project in Melbourne is a massive part of that. And Paul Fletcher will speak more about the specifics of these programs. But our infrastructure program is getting people home sooner and safer. It is making our economy stronger so people can get from job to job a lot quicker. It is connecting better our cities and our cities with our regions and rural areas, to ensure we can get our world class products and produce, as well as our resources. We can get it at the port and we can get it on those ships and we can send it to the world, and we can bring the tourists in and and we can ensure that they can go home again at the end of the day with such marvellous infrastructure we have here, which will also be assisting greatly with the freight task.
And so the companies are getting this too. Not far from here, you see the big Amazon distribution centre and the logistics centre that been built up around this infrastructure here with the Government to step forward to deliver. Same will be true with the intermodal down there in Melbourne and the faster rail projects, making it more possible for people to be able to get to work quicker and live in more places across this incredible country.
Now I've come here today particularly to announce the expanded infrastructure program that will be in the Budget on Tuesday night for a particular reason. Because this project, I think, demonstrates more than any that our Government gets things done when it comes to building infrastructure. Before the last election, I was here when we turned the sod, when we were moving the earthworks, and that task was a herculean one and it's been done by amazing people. I've been back on several occasions, whether it's on the terminal building and now with this runway underway. We've been getting this done.
Now my opponent in this election, he was elected back in 1996. He talked about this project, even said it in his first speech in Parliament. He talked about it for 11 years, and then he became the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure in the Labor Government. He had six years just to turn one sod and nothing happened, zero delivery. We are building this airport and we're building it every single day with great Australians, building the skills, building the capabilities and building the infrastructure. So when it comes to who gets it done, who actually delivers, and who talks about it, I think Western Sydney Airport, particularly the people of Western Sydney, say it very, very clearly. They talk about it in Labor. We do it in Government, and that is the history of this project. It demonstrates our delivery.
Now this infrastructure works that I've announced for the Budget tomorrow night is obviously part of a very important Budget for the country, and that Budget is all about a plan to deal with those cost of living pressures now, that immediate relief that is required to deal with the very real cost of living pressures that are on Australian families and are on Australian businesses, particularly small businesses right now. The impacts on fuel prices and things like that is really causing some great concern to people. And the Budget on Tuesday night, the Treasurer will hand down, will provide that immediate relief, but that's part of a balanced and responsible plan.
We've taken the time to get that package right, and that feeds into our broader economic plan. Our broader economic plan, which is about investing in the skills and the infrastructure that Australia needs to, needs to grow our economy, that needs to ensure that people can get home sooner and safer and be better connected. The Budget is also about guaranteeing those essential services with the record investments we have in hospitals and in schools. But it's also about delivering on Australia's defence and security needs, something that this Government has always had on the top of our priorities. It's about a stronger economy, a strong economy for a stronger future.
One other announcement that has been made today in the Budget is about housing. It's hard to buy a home, particularly hard to buy it in this city, but it's hard all across the country, and it's been increasingly hard in rural and regional areas, particularly over the last few years. And this is one of the major issues when it comes to addressing cost of living pressures. Now, before the last election, just like I stood here and said, “We're building this and we're getting underway,” and look where we are now - 30 per cent of the way through. A week out from the last election, I said, “We're going to get more Australians into their own homes,” and we had a range of projects to do that. We have now, over the course of this last term, put more than 300,000 Australians directly into their own home. And that's been achieved through the Home Guarantee Scheme, which we announced before the last election, it’s known as the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme. We've done it through the HomeBuilder program, which Labor opposed. We've done it through the First Home Super Saver Account, which Labor opposed. We've done it through the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation that’s particularly been helping people to get into affordable housing. All of these projects has seen our Government directly get 300,000 people into their own home in a housing market that's been tough.
And we've done it by dropping the amount of deposit that they needed to get that first home, saved some people eight years. We've done it by ensuring that the HomeBuilder program to get grants to enable them to build their own home, which has really saved our residential building industry during the course of this pandemic. Today, we're extending that out. Our Home Guarantee Scheme will be doubled to 50,000 a year. That's 50,000 Australians, families, individuals, single parents and others who will
directly benefit and be able to get into that home which is their dream, and they will join the more than 300,000 that we've already helped to get there. So we're very proud of that announcement. At the last election, Labor went there promising higher taxes for housing, what we went to the election was with programs that were going to get people into their homes. And that's exactly what we did, with over 300,000 of them going into those homes. And I'm looking forward to 50,000 and more every year joining them in the three years from now.
Okay, I'll hand over to Minister Fletcher and he'll take you through the other projects.
The Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts: Well, it's great to be here at Western Sydney International Airport with the Prime Minister, with Melissa McIntosh, the Member for Lindsay, with Paul O’Sullivan and Simon Hickey, Chair and Chief Executive, with all the team from Western Sydney Airport, from the contractors, [inaudible] and all the other people who are working on this extraordinary project.
Prime Minister, thank you for your continuing support and championing of this remarkable project. And as the Prime Minister has said, we're reaching today a significant milestone on this $5.3 billion project here at Western Sydney Airport, which is part of our pipeline of infrastructure investment. A 10-year pipeline we’ve just announced today - $17.9 billion of additional infrastructure investment will be in the Budget, taking us to more than $120 billion, and that’s projects like faster rail. In New South Wales, we're going to contribute a billion dollars towards four tracks between Wyong and Tuggerah that allows you to run faster, more frequent services. Similarly, on the Sunshine Coast, $1.6 billion for rail from Beerwah to Maroochydore in time for the Olympics in 2032, and $1.2 billion for faster rail between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Kuraby to Beenleigh - again four tracks going from two tracks to four lets you run faster, more reliable services, you run express trains as well as commuter trains. Practical benefits for consumers. In Victoria, we're committing $3.6 billion towards two intermodal terminals at Beveridge andTruganina, supported by significant funding for a road connection at Beveridge, including Camerons Lane and a rail connection the, what’s the so-called outer metropolitan ring south - $920 million from the Morrison Government towards that major project. Melbourne, in many ways, is a logistics hub connecting the east, west to the north, south. Of course, the more than $14 billion inland rail is going to transform logistics around Australia, get a lot more freight off of road onto rail, and these two intermodals that we're committing to, and the associated road and rail infrastructure, will be about improved productivity and efficiency. So, important for long-term economic benefits. But we've got funding commitments for projects around the country. Outback Way, over $600 million, $200 million for Marion Road in South Australia, we've got a Northern Tasmania road package - additional funding for Metronet in Perth, transforming the rail network in Perth.
So the Morrison Government committing very significant infrastructure funding - $17.9 billion in this Budget and this is part of our long-term infrastructure plan for greater safety, greater efficiency, greater productivity. And can I particularly point out that the Wyong to Tuggerah construction will be able to begin by the end of 2024, completed 2028. This is about practical benefits. By contrast, Mr Albanese is talking about high speed rail on the east coast. That would be a $200 to $300 billion project. He announced in January, $500 million to buy some land for it. That won't deliver any immediate benefits to rail users on the Central Coast or between Sydney and Newcastle. Our faster rail plan that the Morrison Government is delivering already, including the $2 billion for Geelong Faster Rail that we announced a couple of years ago. Now these three additional projects, it's about practical, immediate benefits, so people are able to move more quickly and efficiently by rail. People in the community, the Central Coast, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast. So this is practical short-term benefits as compared to frankly vapourware from Mr Albanese and as the Prime Minister said when it comes to the Western Sydney Airport, Mr Albanese talked about that for a very long time when he had the opportunity and he was the Minister for six years, he came up with a series of reports and excuses not to build Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek. It was going to be Wilton. It was going to be Richmond. It was going to be all kinds of places. It was an excuse not to act.
Well, the Morrison Government is standing up for Western Sydney. We're delivering this airport 30, almost 30 per cent completed and we're delivering working with the Perrottet Government, the metro rail that will run from St Mary's to the aerotropolis. As Simon Hickey said, just today we've announced over 70 million for business case to extend beyond the aerotropolis to Leppington and Glenfield, so looking very closely at that project. Of course, we've got the Western Sydney City deal, we've got the Western Sydney Parklands Authority, an integrated plan for Western Sydney. The Morrison Government working with the Perrottet Government. And there is no stronger proof point of delivery than here at Western Sydney Airport. I congratulate the entire team on getting to the point where we're now commencing work on this extraordinary run, runway, 3.7 kilometres.
There is a very sharp contrast between the Morrison Government's approach to infrastructure. We're delivering. We're getting it done. It's easy to talk, you know, Mr Albanese was Minister for Communications when he left government in 2013. At that time, there were barely 50,000 premises connected to the fixed line NBN. We've delivered. There are 8.4 million premises connected around the country to the NBN. You can look at Western Sydney Airport, you can look at NBN, you can look at a whole range of these infrastructure projects. Mr Albanese has a record of talking and not delivering. The Morrison Government, well, don't look at what we say. Look at what we've done. The proof is right here.
Prime Minister: Happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, will relief on petrol prices last beyond the election or will any measures just last weeks?
Prime Minister: The Budget is on Tuesday night. It is not far away now. What we recognise is the great pressure that small businesses are under right around the country, and we've designed a suite of measures to address those cost of living issues to ensure that Australian families, individuals can get the support they need now, and that's part of a longer term plan for Australia's economic growth and jobs and the skills and the very infrastructure we've been talking about today, which we continue to provide longer term support for the Australian economy and the jobs that Australians rely on, which supports the services they rely on.
Journalist: A fuel excise cut of 20 cents a litre plus the $250 bonus payments is going to cost the Budget up to $8 billion. Can the Budget really afford such big spending?
Prime Minister: Well, I note the speculation and you're repeating speculation. The Budget is on Tuesday night and the Treasurer will make announcements about all the elements of our package to support Australians as we deal with the cost of living pressures now, but also the Budget is about a long term economic plan that provides jobs and a stronger economy for the future because I can tell you, you cannot build this. You cannot support the 2800 listings we've got on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. You cannot pay for the national disability insurance programme, you cannot pay for the pension, Medicare and all of the supports we particularly provided during the pandemic, unless you run a strong economy. Now, the investments we're making in this Budget is about making sure our economy remains strong and gets stronger because that's how we pay for things.
Now it's also by ensuring that you have sound and responsible financial management. Our government has demonstrated that. Throughout the course of this pandemic, we have retained Australia's AAA credit rating. We are one of just nine countries in the world to have done that, particularly during the pandemic. There used to be more. There's less now, but we are still one of them because of the responsible and balanced way we've made our investments. The ratings agencies have noticed how we've been focused on where we've been making our investments to make our economy stronger. Because it's that stronger economy, which enables you to pay down the debt when you combine that with responsible financial management, which our government has demonstrated before the pandemic hit, we had got the Budget back into balance.
How did we do that? We've got our costs under control now that we inherited from the Labor Party, and we ensured that we grew the economy and we got people off welfare and we got them into work. You want to know how to balance the Budget? You get people into jobs. Unemployment is now at four percent and it's going to a 50 year low as a result of the economic plan we've been putting in place. And the Budget will add further to that economic plan. I know our economic plan is working because Australians are working in record numbers and particularly women. More than a million women have gotten into jobs, many of them here at this very project, at this very project and in what some would call non-traditional industries. So I think we can get rid of that, that point of reference, this is as much a traditional industry now as the new tradition has been established by the women of Australia, working in big projects like this and out on the mines and taking on trades apprentices. Now we've got 220,000 Australians in trade apprentices right now. That is the highest number on economic record in Australia, going back to 1963. On the weekend, I announced a further extension of our apprenticeship programme, which will see even more apprentices, some 35,000 coming into the programme.
Journalist: Prime Minister, with cash handouts and cut to petrol excise, is the strategy simply to buy votes?
Prime Minister: This Budget is about addressing the cost of living pressures being faced by Australian families. That's what this Budget is about. It's about the long term plan that Australians need to grow their economy and deal with the uncertainties that are ahead. I mean, we've steered the Australian economy through one of the most challenging and difficult times since the Great Depression. And we've steered this country through a time of great international uncertainty, particularly in our region, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Second World War. And to do that, you've got to have the experience, you've got to have the strength to take Australia through. On the economy, our economy has come through the pandemic stronger than the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada. All of these countries, the strongest advanced economies in the world. But yet, Australia's economy has come out the strong above all of those, while at the same time saving over 40,000 lives. That's the type of result that you get from strength and leadership, not weakness, not prevarication. You get it from strength and the experience to know and having the right instincts. Instincts that have been formed over decades and decades. So you make the right calls in the right moment. And that's what our government has done. This budget is about Australians facing their future. And to have a stronger future, you need a strong economy, and our government has demonstrated the strong economic credentials to deliver.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you just mentioned cost of living. Will any cost of living measures need to pass through Parliament before the election campaign?
Prime Minister: The Budget, the key measures in the Budget will be moving swiftly to ensure they have support through the Parliament to ensure they are legislated before the election.
Journalist: How much of a difference will your cost of living measures make if inflation and interest rates, soon rise?
Prime Minister: I'm glad you raised the point of inflation because inflation in Australia is less than half what it is in the United States. It's lower than what it is in Germany, the United Kingdom, many other advanced economies. One of the reasons for that is because of the way we've managed the budget. Inflationary pressures, what that means is what you pay for, how much more you pay. And in this economy and in this global economy, when there are so many pressures on countries all around the world which is forcing prices up, one of the things that ensures that you don't do that is having a government that manages the finances responsibly. Now, just this last week, I announced over $5 billion to invest in one of the most important dam projects for Central Queensland. During the course of the pandemic, the Labor Party wanted to spend $6 billion to pay people to have a vaccine that they already had, and I think that speaks to the difference between the responsible, targeted, well thought through financial management of our government and the financial recklessness of what we've seen from Anthony Albanese. He wanted to pay people money, to people to do something they'd already done, and it was $6 billion. I mean, they would have spent $81 billion more during the pandemic than we had to spend - $81 billion. Now that sounds like a lot of money, but let me put it in perspective, that's almost three times the annual cost of running Medicare. And he wanted to blow three times that by reckless spending and not being able to know when you start spending and when you stop, because when Labor starts spending, they never know how to stop and you end up paying for it.
Journalist: Prime Minister on the Home Guarantee Scheme. Where in Sydney can a first home buyer buy a home for $750,000?
Prime Minister: The great thing about our Home Guarantee scheme and the Home Builders, Home Builders scheme, particularly, we've seen it out here in Western Sydney that was providing much needed grant support to help people with those costs they were considerable additions that we're providing. But the Home Guarantee scheme, when we developed this scheme before the last election, we knew that the hardest thing to do when you're buying your first home, I remember this when Jenny and I were buying our first time, it was, it was, it was hard back then, I believe it's harder now, was the deposit you need to pull together, and that's that was a 20 per cent deposit. And so by the government underwriting that deposit, you could bring it back to five per cent. And so that massively cut down what you had to save in order to get yourself into that first home. Now I've met, I've met young people in particular who been able to get into their first home sooner in this rising housing market, whether it's here in Sydney or down in Melbourne or elsewhere. And they have got into their first home, they told me eight years sooner because of that change. That's how we’ve helped people beat the rising housing market and get themselves into a first home. I mean, here we are seeing dreams turned into reality at this airport. But I can tell you what, there are 300,000 Australians we’ve help turn their dreams of a home into reality in just the last three years, and we're going to keep doing it.
Journalist: If the scheme was developed before the last election, should it have been adjusted now for the rising cost of how the housing market?
Prime Minister: It's being extended.
Journalist: That's the same as the last election. It's been three years, the housing prices going up, how are these people going to get into a home in Sydney?
Prime Minister: Well, let me point out the program to you again, 20 per cent down to five per cent. And if the prices are rising, it's five per cent or 20 per cent of the increased price. So the ability to cut that down by 15 per cent makes all the difference. And one of the things I'm most proud of with that program is it has a specific section that deals with single parents. And the number of single parents that I've met with, often with kids in teenage years who have known nothing other across their lives, and they've often become single parents because of terrible domestic violence situations and had moved from house to house to house to house. And you can imagine the disruption that has had to their children's education and it broke that single mum's heart. Now I've met the single mums that we've put into their first house. I've got 300,000 Australians who can testify to our government's ability to get people into their first homes, into their homes, in a rising housing market. The policy we developed and took to the last election has worked, and today we're announcing that we're expanding. Turning their dreams into reality. From 25 up to 50,000 each year and 10,000 of those places will be specifically for people in regional areas where the pressure on buying your home has become a lot greater over the last three years. We recognise that this program has been a great success and that's why we're going to back it in even further.
Journalist: The Solomon Islands Opposition Leader says he warned Australia about China's military presence in the country. He says we did nothing about it. Did you drop the ball on this?
Prime Minister: Absolutely not. We've been aware of the risks right across the Pacific. This is why we doubled our development assistance into the Pacific. This is why we provided support to the to the major infrastructure projects across the region, including the Solomons. This is why we supported the Solomon Islands, particularly through RAMSI over all those years and we're back there right now and we were the first country that Solomon Islands called to go and provide help to them to stabilise and give security to their country. Now the AFP are still there and they're going to be there for a long time to come. The, the reports that we've seen, are not a surprise to us and are a reminder of the constant pressure and threats that present in our region to our own national security. And I'll be speaking today with the Prime Ministers of Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Prime Minister Ardern and I have been in contact over the weekend as well. This is an issue of concern for the region, but it is, it has not come as a surprise. We have been long aware of these pressures. That's why we had the Pacific step up. That's why we doubled our effort. That's why, and it started under Julie Bishop and I want to acknowledge Julie for her role and Marise Payne for her role, in what they did as they said, look, we need to get more focused on our region, and we completely recast our development assistance program, and we put its focus on the Pacific. So whether it was the measles epidemic in Samoa or whether it was the the eruption over in Tonga or whether it was the pandemic in Fiji, Australia were the first ones there to help with our Kiwi partners to ensure that we were looking after our family responsibilities in the region. And so we are trusted and we are respected as as the as the most significant provider of development aid support throughout the Pacific, and that has only increased under my government.
Journalist: And now your own MP, John Alexander, says the government is addicted to buying votes with infrastructure spending. Is any of the money announced targeting marginal seats?
Prime Minister: It's targeting the strength of our economy because that's what Australians need. The Budget tomorrow night, and I'll finish with this, once again the Budget tomorrow night is about addressing the immediate pressures that Australians are facing right now with the cost of living pressures. Whether you're buying that first home, dealing with the many costs they've seen go up as a result of what's happening around world. People know that petrol prices have gone up because of the war in Ukraine. They understand that. And there's nothing we can do other than what we have done, provide support to the people of Ukraine. What we can do in the Budget is provide a package of measures. It goes to addressing that real need. The Budget is also about continuing with our very successful economic plan that has made Australia one of the strongest economies in the world coming through this pandemic. It is about building infrastructure, just like this. It's also about guaranteeing those essential services, Trikafta is a drug that is going to change the lives of people with cystic fibrosis, we announced that. Jenny as you know, told her story about her journey with endometriosis, $52 million to help women in dealing with, one in nine, dealing with the terrible pain and suffering that goes endometriosis. Then of course, there's spinal muscular atrophy support and genetic testing to ensure that Australians in the future won't have to live through that awful tragedy and pain that so many families do. And of course it is about our defence and security. This is what our Budget is about. As a government, we've delivered many Budgets. As a Prime Minister I’ve delivered, this will be my fourth, as a treasurer I delivered three. As a member of the Expenditure Review Committee, that was the first I was involved with. That's eight Budgets. Anthony Albanese was in government for six years, wasn't part of one. You know, when you're dealing with the issues that Australia is dealing now with global uncertainty, both in the economy and our security, you don't want someone who hasn’t had the experience of doing the job. Thanks very much, everyone.
Press Conference - Nedlands, WA
27 March 2022
CELIA HAMMOND MP, MEMBER FOR CURTIN: Good morning everybody, I'm Celia Hammond, the Liberal member for Curtin and it is wonderful to be here this morning in Curtin in beautiful Western Australia and to welcome back the Prime Minister. I'm standing here with my colleagues, the Attorney General, Michaelia Cash, Special Minister for State Ben Morton, and of course, the wonderful Professor Peter Leedman, who is the Director and CEO of the Harry Perkins Institute. I'll hand over to the Attorney-General.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much Celia and ladies and gentleman. As I look around the room today, how honoured and privileged are we to be amongst so many people in Western Australia. We've just come from a room where we've heard a number of Western Australians take us through their personal journey when it comes to cancer. It is a very, very personal journey, as we know. I am someone who talks about my family's journey with my little sister, Joanna Cash who in 2015, at the age of 33, grew her angel wings, she had a very rare form of cancer, alveolar soft part sarcoma. So my family, we know what it's like to have that journey and not necessarily be able to get the treatment here in Western Australia. And that's what Prime Minister, Celia, Ben Morton and I heard today from the people upstairs who shared their journey with this.
Without a doubt, we had excellent cancer care here in Western Australia and on behalf of my federal colleagues, I acknowledge everybody who works to make that journey for those going through cancer and their families as easy as possible. But as we also know we can do better here in Western Australia, and that is why to have our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, join Ben Morton, Celia Hammond, Professor Peter Leedman and everybody here today to make this incredibly transformative announcement for all Western Australians. A Comprehensive Cancer Centre right here in our home state. It is going to literally change the lives of so many people who are going through the journey and of course, so many of whom we know to come and go through that journey. What we heard today was despite the excellence in that care, the journey is just not an easy one. You could do an appointment in one side of Perth, you then have to go an appointment on another side of Perth, you get to juggle your life on a daily basis. That is all going to change with the building of the comprehensive Cancer Centre here in Perth.
On a personal note for me and Professor Leedman and Prime Minister, thank you for making this possible. Clinical trials and our own Comprehensive Cancer Centre. When my little sister was told she had a very rare form of cancer, alveolar soft part sarcoma, the conversation, as so many of you know, went along the line of, "Jo, unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do for you, there's no treatment here in Australia." Jo spent much of her journey over 12 weeks getting on the plane and going to the United Kingdom. So many here today have explained their journey, getting on a plane and going to the eastern states. So to Professor Peter Leedman, thank you. Thank you to the Harry Perkins Centre for your vision. To Ben Morton in particular, who has his own personal story, thank you for working so comprehensively with us to get this over the line. And Prime Minister, on behalf of everybody here, thank you for your leadership. But more than that, for the announcement today, $375 million, it's in the budget, ladies and gentlemen. Western Australia, thank you, Prime Minister, for giving us our first Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and welcome back to Perth.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Michaelia, or MC as I like to call her, and to Celia and to Ben, my colleagues, I want to thank them for their strong and passionate leadership that has been so critical to where we are today. To you Peter, it's been extraordinary to get to meet you today, and I think you would agree with me that the extraordinary group of Australians I've just had the privilege to meet with over the course of this morning and this afternoon has been tremendous.
The greatest privilege I have as Prime Minister, is I get to see Australians at their best and I always see Australians at their best often when the circumstances are (inaudible). Whether I've walked into a town that has been blown over by a terrible cyclone or one that has been washed away by a flood or burnt down by a fire or ravaged by a pandemic or even one of the many other disasters our nation has had to deal with.
But each and every day, brave Australians fight cancer, and they do, they fight and they got to summon the courage each and every day to go out and do that. They have to comprehend the mass, as we were just learning, of information and various treatments and the decisions that have to be taken when all at the same time they're thinking, my goodness, and they're just simply trying to process the worst news they've ever had in all of their lives. And sitting next to them is often someone who is processing that same news because it's someone they've lived their entire life with or some other family member or dear friend. And in the worst of circumstances, they're dealing with it on their own. Now in this country, we have the finest surgeons, the finest doctors, the finest researchers. This is all true, and the quality of what is available in this country is phenomenal.
But that doesn't do the job on its own because the opportunities to ensure that these brave Australians can get the best possible care and to have the best possible chance not just at surviving their cancer, but to living their life while they're surviving it. And this is important. It's not just about saving lives, it's about the quality of life that you are able to have over the course of your treatment. It's also about ensuring that all those incredibly clever minds that are taking forward the advances in medical science for the treatment of cancer, for the cure of cancer, and to help people understand how to deal with cancer to ensure they can all get on the same page. And today I also had the great thrill of meeting those amazing researchers who are fighting the fight for the future, to ensure that these treatments and these, and these cures can be found.
And so the Comprehensive Cancer Centre here in Western Australia, here in Perth, is about pulling all that together. It's about pulling together the incredible clinicians and physicians and researchers and scientists and the students that are learning from them and will go on to do amazing things themselves. It's about bringing together the entrepreneurs and the financiers and the, and the ecosystem that actually pulls all that together and the pharmacy companies, pharmaceutical companies and all the rest of it to ensure that all of this can happen. But most of all as I've learnt today, in particular, because when you're looking at these investments, they're the things, the practical elements of it. So you have the research is you have to practise, you have the clinicians, you, you have all of this and the business cycle all in one place and you create this amazing ecosystem that can achieve all of this. But the most important thing is the patient at the centre and that, those patients and their families, their loved ones, their carers, their support people, whether it's their breast cancer nurses or all else, and I've learnt more of the great work that McGrath is doing here in WA, which I'm thrilled about, is their ability to come to one place to be able to move from one part of the centre to another and to be able to get the consistent care and support and the pathway that they need. So that's what this is about. And it's about ensuring that it's here in Perth.
All along our east coast, these facilities do exist in Melbourne and in Sydney and I've visited them there too. And I've met Western Australians at those facilities and now they will be able to do it here with our commitment of some $375 million as the Attorney has said to make this a reality. Now, just over a week ago, and I was last here in Perth, I had the opportunity to speak to the Premier about this and inform him of the decision that we'd taken in our budget. And I thank Mark for the opportunity to discuss that with him and in confidence and, and they will, of course, go through their process but I welcome the supportive comments that the Premier has made today. I have no doubt he feels exactly as I do about this project and exactly as Michaelia and my colleagues do and I'm sure that Peter, you have shared your vision with him on more than one occasion, and he would be more than (inaudible) with the arguments as to why this should proceed.
And so this is a wonderful opportunity. We all wish that all of these facilities could have been here forever. But, you know, as members of governments, your responsibility is to take the decision of the government and to move forward and as you heard from Michaelia, and I want to acknowledge her, particularly in honouring her sister Joanna and Ben and his mum, that these, politicians we're like the rest of you. We live similar lives whether we grow up in the suburbs or the bush or regional towns or inner cities or wherever. There's not a member of Parliament I think, whether the federal or state level, whose life in some way hasn't been touched by cancer and the treatment of it, the struggles that people go through. There's not one of us who hasn't been completely overwhelmed with pride to see the courage that those who have fought cancer have fought it. And so I think this is frankly the least we can do here in the West to ensure that Western Australians, whether they're here in Perth or further afield across this wonderful state, can come here and get that care and support. In a country like Australia, we're proud to be able to say we made a bar of it.
This is a very, this is a very prosperous state in Western Australia. It fuels so much of our economy and the reason you have a strong economy, the reason that you work hard to ensure we're digging out of the ground, well we got to dig out, and to that in the most amazing way, to have amazing manufacturing businesses and services businesses, great tourism industries, all of these things Western Australia knows only too well. The point of all that, at the end of the day, this week's Budget, I believe, will demonstrate once again the point of all of that work and all the most careful financial management that you can muster as a government is so you can do this. So you can guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on.
The Budget, of course, will confirm record investments in all of these things, as well as addressing our defence and security needs and addressing the very real cost of living pressures that we're facing in the country right now because of things far away from here. But as all that goes on, I just want to say to those brave souls that are out there battling this right now. Keep up the fight. As a government we're standing with you as best as we can and as best as we know how and the way we do that is funding this and making it a reality. Taking it from a dream to something that is very real for the people of Western Australia. So I'm going to ask Peter to come and explain a bit more about what's involved here. And I don't mind standing here all afternoon listening to him, it's about Peter. This is a really exciting day and I want to congratulate you for the great work you've done and really leading the initiative to make this a reality. Thank you.
PROFESSOR PETER LEEDMAN AO, DIRECTOR, HARRY PERKINS INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH: Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Mr Morton, Ms Hammond and distinguished guests. This truly is a remarkable day for all Western Australians. It's the start of a new era of cancer care in Western Australia, with the development of the Western Australian Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Today's announcement of $375 million towards the establishment of the centre, is a massive investment and Prime Minister, a huge thank you to you and your government for backing this proposal. The announcement is both visionary and transformative, it's visionary because the investment is going to be felt by all of us for generations to come. These facilities are here, they're there, they're sitting for everyone to partake. What a wonderful legacy, just think of it. What's happening today is the incredible legacy for this particular, since, just as the Peter MacCallum in Melbourne is an icon and known by all as a centre of excellence, our goal for this centre, of course, is to attain the same world-class reputation, serving WA and the global community in forthcoming years. It will be transformative because patients and their families will literally have, and we heard already, one stop shop holistic care in a standalone centre - from diagnosis to treatment, from surgery to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and complementary therapies such as massage, music, psychological well-being analysis - all happening under one roof. We don't know what that's like in Western Australia. We've got to go to Peter Mac or Chris O'Brien or overseas. It's going to happen right here. This is a very different experience and that's what we can deliver for the population and community of Western Australia, and I'm incredibly excited about that possibility for all of us.
To that point, and it's been made already, but it's really important because I'm a doctor in the public health system and have been for thirty years, and the quality of care that we provide is exceptional. It's not about the quality of care. It's actually the journey. And it's the journey that patients and their families endure, which we believe we can do better. Patients and their families struggle with the challenge of fragmented and disconnected care, on top of dealing with their own cancer. And we've heard today from a number of very, people who've been very generous with their stories. It's hard to navigate the complex pathways in cancer care on your own. Patients want help with this. They want a streamlined, integrated, well-lit, holistic approach with the full range of traditional and complementary therapies, all in one, simple centre.
In addition to these benefits, experience from [inaudible] cancer centres in Australia and around the world, such as the Peter Mac in Melbourne and Chris O'Brien in Sydney, outcomes improve. And that's clearly another incredibly compelling reason for why we would want one of these centres in Western Australia. The centre will also help stem the brain drain, and we really know about that, Prime Minister. It is a big issue in Western Australia. We want to keep our best and brightest here, not being swept up and hoovered and transported to the eastern states. So I'm sorry, Prime Minister, we want to keep our best and brightest right here, and this is going to be a wonderful wonderful way of doing that.
PRIME MINISTER: Or come here, too.
PROFESSOR PETER LEEDMAN AO, DIRECTOR, HARRY PERKINS INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH: Yes, absolutely. So the centre will be established on a strong foundation of pioneering discovery research from the Harry Perkins Institute, and clinical trials emanating from Linear Clinical Research that will underpin the delivery of the highest quality clinical care. The centre will have the latest in genomic technologies and the genes that go with [inaudible]. It'll focus on precision medicine and remaining competitive and right at the cutting edge of clinical therapeutics. We would expect some of these discoveries to be heard, and the Prime Minister had a chance to talk with Brendan Kennedy [inaudible] over there about the commercialisation of some of our very important discoveries, so we can get those discoveries into clinical care and to the bedside.
We envisage that Linear, which is a world-class facility and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Perkins, will provide. For those of you who may not know Linear, it is a jewel in the crown of this campus. It does more cancer early phase clinical trials than any other facility in Australia. Last year, Linear brought to 151 patients, cancer patients in Western Australia, a first in-human drug, first in the world right here in Perth, and that will expand in the new centre. That's exciting for Linear and we are very enthusiastic about its future and what it holds.
Now, obviously, I can go on and talk about this for ages and ages and ages, but it's just such a wonderful concept, I love it, and I live and breathe it. However, I can't. But hopefully you will appreciate the vision and the vision is, we're going to establish a centre that's a paradigm shift from the currently available cancer [inaudible], a standalone independent cancer hospital and research centre on the one location right here, just behind us on QEII campus. It will be a sanctuary. It will be a safe place for patients and their families.
So before closing, I'd like to say a couple of thank yous, because we did not get to this morning and this incredible announcement without a lot of help. Prime Minister, once again, incredibly huge thank yous to you and your Government for making this a high priority and for making such a huge contribution to this development. Please join me again. The Attorney-General and to Minister Morton - many of you will not know the work that they have done behind the scenes to actually get this across the line. They believed in the initiative. They've supported it. They've raised its profile to national level. We, the Western Australian public, are forever, and I mean forever, grateful.
To all the people with lived experience of cancer who have been involved in the development of the centre so far, and all those that will be involved in the future, a huge thank you. A particular thank you to those stories that we heard this morning, or some of us heard this morning, from people around the table letting the Prime Minister know how urgent this is, the need here – fragmented, disconnected journey that people have.
To our two scientists – I’m looking at Brendan, I can’t see [inaudible], [inaudible] see [inaudible] – for thank you to both you and your teams for wowing the Prime Minister and the ministers with your science and giving them a look into what we do in [inaudible].
To the many cancer related groups, organisations and communities who are with us at the table planning this future, thank you. Your involvement is absolutely critical to the success of this initiative. And to the dream team, as I call it, who worked on this proposal over the last several months and years, maturing this concept into what we have today – Professor Moira Clay, Joey [inaudible], Mandy Robinson, who’s my EA, and I think she’ll probably demand a month off after today. She’s amazing. Lauren Kerr, James [inaudible] and [inaudible], and to my incredible Perkins Board, and John Barrington, who I can see, who's our, who’s our Chair, who backed me and the team to develop this concept and to bring it into reality. A huge thank you to all of you. And of course, no thank yous would be appropriate and complete without mentioning my long suffering family, and especially my wife Sarah, over there in green, who has shared in this vision with me over the last several years.
Western Australians will long remember the 27th of March 2022 as a landmark day. That day is the day that the Western Australian Comprehensive Cancer Centre was born, and I think that's an extraordinary achievement. It is an incredibly exciting project. I can't wait to buckle up with the best team in town and drive it to completion so that we can make it available to all Western Australians as fast as humanly possible.
And with that, that concludes what I'm going to say. That concludes the more formal part of this morning's proceedings. It's a wonderful day. Stay on just a little bit more, I think we’re going to have some questions and answering various things. And to all of you for coming this morning, thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I thank the media for being here this morning – you don’t, you don’t hear me say that very often, do you. Can I thank you for being here this morning. We've already had a press conference on other national matters earlier today. But if you’d like to ask some questions on these matters, particularly with Peter next to me, then feel free to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned Mark McGowan before, discussing this amazing project with him. I was just wondering, how come he's not there with you this morning speaking on it?
PRIME MINISTER: Because the Premier and the Government here in Western Australia are yet to make their decision on this matter. And so they're going through their processes. We gave them the courtesy of advising them the Federal Government has made their decision and informed him of that. And so they are still going through their processes as a Government, so once they've arrived at a decision on these matters [inaudible].
JOURNALIST: Do you believe this that any angst that Labor, Federal Labor colleagues doesn't like him to be in presence with you on camera?
PRIME MINISTER: Honestly, those issues I could not care less about when we're standing here announcing a comprehensive cancer centre. Politics can just take a backseat for a second, if that’s alright.
JOURNALIST: I guess given WA’s isolation, how important is it to have the centre here?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look it’s [inaudible]. Look it’s massively important, and Peter has set out that very well. And as I said, I’ve met Western Australians at Peter Mac and and up there in Sydney as well. And so WA’s a vast state, vast state, and that's difficult enough. And then to actually have to go to the other side of the country on occasion because of the nature of the cancer treatment [inaudible], well, that's something we need to fix in Western Australia and we are fixing that. And I do believe that the Premier and I share a passion for this project and after being, you know, the GST, I think arrangements will very much enable them to, I think, come to the party very soon. I don’t think that will be a stretch for Mark. No, because I, look, I honestly believe I think there's a strong commitment that at both the state and federal level, and once they’ve gone through their proper channels I think this will be realised. So, I think there’s, as you say, said, Peter, it's been birthed here today. There are many other partners in the project, but it is something that we're able to have this on both coasts – on the west coast and on the east coast.
And that's, I think, one of the key things, I've got such a strong Western Australian team in my Cabinet and in my Government, and that has enabled these issues to become national priorities. And it's been such a strong voice. I particularly, and Ben won’t mind me doing this, acknowledging Michaelia’s leadership on this. She leads our Western Australian team here in our, in our Cabinet, but also across our Government. And she has fought for this and she has argued for it. And it wasn't a parochial argument for Western Australia. Like on the GST, it was an argument made in the national interest that we need these services and facilities on both sides of the country for all Australians, and so well done Michaelia. And no one understands the challenges Western Australians face better than my Western Australian team, which is large and significant and very vocal.
JOURNALIST: When it comes to health, what, can we expect more commitment from the Federal Government to help that many states, especially Western Australia, to deal with back loggings and deal with elective surgery issues?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in, we have record levels of investment in public health in this country, particularly through the course of the pandemic. One of the first things we did was we offered to carry 50-50 the costs of pandemic-related health costs here in Western Australia. But at the same time, improvements in funding that we put in as a Government. We have seen our own funding of the public hospital system here increase by around just over 80 per cent or thereabouts, which is many times over what the increase has been. Now, I'm not looking to make a state federal point here on a day like today, because I believe there is a strong partnership on this, but we have been doing the heavy lifting on increasing our investment.
But I've got to say, on the GST deal, in all seriousness, I understand it was Treasury work here in WA itself – you may have seen those reports – that if that 2018 deal that I secured and put in place for Western Australia had not been done, well, those estimates – I can't confirm them, they weren't done by the Federal Government – that would have seen Western Australia down by over $4.4 [sic] billion, $4.4 [sic] billion, because of the way the GST and the way it used to be calculated until I changed it and legislated it meant that Western Australia was getting their fair share, and a fair share in the national interest. And that fair share means that when when Mark, sorry Premier McGowan, but when Premier McGowan comes to have a conversation with himself as Treasurer, as Premier, and then have that with the rest of the Cabinet, he'll be able to look at projects like this with a confidence that he couldn't before because WA wasn’t getting their fair share. And so that's why I say the GST deal for Western Australia is a forever deal, and next year it's worth $2.6 billion extra to the Western Australian coffers on average, and for the six years after that, and then into the future. And that means health care, police, law and order, education, schools, but in particular, centres like the one that we've announced our funding for here today and taking that initiative.
So I want to thank you all for being here. Thank you very much for the questions. Peter, again, thank you very much.
Press Conference - Welshpool, WA
27 March 2022
KRISTY MCSWEENEY, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR SWAN: Good morning, I'm Kristy McSweeney, I'm the federal candidate for Swan. It's fantastic to be here this morning to make a significant announcement in WA's skills future with the Skills Minister, Ben Morton, my neighbouring seat of Tangney representative and, of course, the Prime Minister. I'm so excited to stand here today and talk about skills. Many of you know, my dad's a FIFO. We've met so many budding tradies here today, and it truly is a fantastic announcement for Western Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Kristy. Well, it's great to be here with my colleagues. It's also great to be here at Sanwell and to all of those who've welcomed us this morning, I want to say thank you and showing their wares on the tools, which is great to see. It's always thrilling when I walk into any place like this, anywhere in the country, just seeing so many young people, young men, young women getting involved, getting a trade, getting a traineeship, setting themselves up for their future, and that is particularly the case here in Western Australia.
It's great to be back in Western Australia so soon, and it's great to be making these announcements by further extending our support for apprenticeships here, not just in Western Australia, but all around the country. Because here in Western Australia, where we've got big projects ahead; the resources sector, the infrastructure sector, the residential building sector, so many different parts of the Western Australian economy needing more and more of these skilled tradespeople. And if I go back to just two years ago, as we were facing and staring into the abyss of the pandemic and the first measures which the Treasurer and I put in place to combat the impact of that pandemic was actually for apprentices. We knew, and it was Michaelia Cash who was the Minister at the time, we knew, together with the treasurer, that they would be likely last on, first off and we could have lost a generation of skills. Apprentices who had started their training, who were mid during their training, or looking to complete it. It could have been the first victims, economic victims of the pandemic, and the great fear was we'd never see them come back and they'd be lost to those trades and Australia as we came out of the pandemic, as we are now coming back strongly, that we wouldn't have those skilled tradespeople to drive our economic opportunities on the other side of the pandemic.
Even from those early days of the pandemic, we understood that you needed to have an economic plan to address the here and now, and you had to have an economic plan to follow through on to lead Australia in the recovery process and see Australia's economy strengthen for the decades ahead. We always understood that dealing with the pandemic was about saving lives. Yes, definitely, saved over 40,000 lives. It was also about saving livelihoods. So we did the Retaining Apprenticeships Scheme and that was followed up by the Boosting Apprenticeships and the Commencing Apprenticeships Scheme. And all of that has now meant that over the course of this pandemic, in just the last two years, my government has invested $7.6 billion in keeping our apprentices in our trades by getting apprentices into trades and boosting the numbers of apprentices that we have in trades. $7.6 billion, and that has touched the lives of over half a million Australians. Now that's what I call a commitment to skills and training in the Australian economy. $7.6 billion and over half a million Australians directly supported, and the businesses that depend on those tradespeople coming through.
Right now, we have more trades apprentices in training, 220,000 right now, than at any other time in Australia's recorded economic history, and those records go back to 1963. So our government has not only ensured that we've come through this pandemic, that we've been able to retain those apprentices. Apprentices that would have had to walk off the job. We would never have seen them again. I've met them all around the country. Those are in their first year, two years ago. Those are in their second year. Those are in their third year. And now in those latter groups, they have completed their apprenticeships like young Drew, who it's his last day as an apprentice today, and now he goes on to a full-time job as a fully ticketed plumber here in Western Australia and a great example to indigenous young boys and girls all over the country. Him demonstrating just what is achievable, particularly through a trade. So we're very proud today that we are now extending our successful Boosting Apprenticeships and Commencing Apprenticeship Scheme, which I'll ask Minister Robert to go through the detail of, by an extra $350 million. And that brings, as I said, the total investment to some $7.6 billion backing in Australia apprentices like no government has ever done before.
The great beneficiary is all Australians, not just those who are directly supported by these measures, but those companies who now benefit from those skills and those trades. And as we go into the Budget this year, in just a couple of days’ time, and the Treasurer outlines the measures in the budget, this is a key part of what we're seeking to do. The Budget is all about ensuring we deal with those immediate cost of living pressures, which Australians are feeling all around the country because of what we're seeing in Ukraine, the impacts on, on fuel prices. We know this is biting and that we've done the homework and spent the time to get the right design on the packages to support Australians right now when it comes to cost of living pressures. The Budget is also about our ongoing and successful economic plan that deals with the challenges into the future, like the measures we are announcing here today, backing apprentices, backing skills, backing trades, backing small businesses.
But it's also about guaranteeing record investment in the essential services that Australians rely on, and in particular today we've been talking about in other places the listing of new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that are a life- changing event for people with cystic fibrosis. Absolutely enormously essential medicines, and we achieve that by having a strong economy and fourthly the Budget will be continuing to ensure that our plan to keep Australians safe by investing in the security and defence of Australia remains at record levels. And all this is achieved by having a strong economy because a strong economy means a stronger future, and that's what this year's Budget is all about. And with that, I'll pass you on to Minister Robert.
THE HON. STUART ROBERT MP, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, WORKFORCE, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS: Yeah, thanks PM. It's great to be in Perth. Kristy, lovely to once again join you and of course, my great mate, Steve and to thank you for the work you've done and great to be at Sanwell. I thank Brendan, the CEO here and of course, Ben, who's the head of MPA skills, where so many of the apprentices are. The Morrison government truly is the best friend that tradies have ever had. The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement Program has seen over 350,000 apprentices and trainees come in to that area of skill and importantly, over 220,000 trade apprentices in trades like plumbing that we're seeing here today. That program was ending in four days. Today, of course, we're announcing we will extend the very successful Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement through to the end of this financial year, to 30th of June. And, of course, the Completing Apprenticeship Commencement, which provides 10 per cent of the wage in the second year and five per cent in the first year, and the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement announcement today. The federal government is partnering with industries and businesses just like Sanwell and providing 50 per cent of the first wage for first year wage and that'll extend right through to the 30th of June. It gives businesses more time now to bring on apprentices. We believe 35,000 extra apprentices will commence under this program between now and the 30th of June to take the numbers to 385,000 apprentices and trainees at the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement Program has put. Right here in the seat of Swan there's 2,400 trade apprentices, the highest number in recorded history right now because of what the Morrison government has done backing in Australia's young men and women, backing in women into non-traditional trades, backing in great young men like Drew from Indigenous communities, from country who want to get a trade and get ahead. Now the Budget on Tuesday night will talk through the government's next steps post 30 June on exactly how we'll continue to lock in the great benefits of what we've done. But employers have got an extra three months now to get those young Australians, to get mature age Australians, to get women from non-traditional trades, to get people into trades and give them the opportunities they need, it's a great announcement Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've flagged cost of living relief in the Budget.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: What good will one-off payments do for low and middle-income earners once inflation kicks up later this year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Budget's on Tuesday night and the announcements in the Budget will be then. I'm not making them today. So you're speculating on, on things that is fairly normal at this time of the year, before a Budget is handed down and so I'm not going to join that speculation. I'll leave the announcements to the Treasurer. But what I do know is this, throughout the course of this pandemic, when we have had to put in place the biggest economic support an Australian Government has ever had to do to frankly save the economy. Whether it was the Retaining Apprenticeship Scheme that I mentioned before, the cash flow boost, which was done at exactly the same time. Then there was the JobKeeper investments and there was the health investments. These were record investments that we put in place. And you'd think that with the nature of those outlays that Australia, Australia's AAA credit rating, would have been put at risk just because of the sheer scale of the spending we had to undertake. But that's not what happened.
Throughout the course of the pandemic our government retained Australia's AAA credit rating and we did that because of the design and of the careful economic management that was behind what we did. And the ratings agencies were able to look at our economic strategy and our financial strategy, and they could see what we were doing. We were investing in, in nurturing and supporting the Australian economy to get through so on the other side, it could grow again. And on growing on the other side, that would support Australia's revenues, and that would actually keep the pressure down on things like inflation and as a result, rises in interest rates that might otherwise occur well beyond any return to normal levels. And so my message is pretty clear.
When you've got a government that has demonstrated its financial management to keep a AAA credit rating in the worst economic crisis we've seen since the Great Depression, then that's a government you can have confidence in to keep the pressures on inflation down. Our alternative, the Labor Party, they were proposing to spend $6 billion to pay people to have a vaccination that they'd already had. That's the sort of Albo-nomics that you can expect from a Labor-led government. That is not the sort of thing that keeps inflation, the pressure down on inflation. That is not the sort of financial management that keeps the pressure down on rising interest rates. And so our government has demonstrated that we have the financial management experience to be able to deal with the very significant challenges that are ahead. The global economy is going through some absolutely disruptive and upheaved times, and our government has demonstrated the ability to manage that in the middle of a crisis, keep Australians in work to record levels, record levels. We are going to an unemployment rate with a three in front of it, and that will be the first time in 50 years that that's been achieved. And we've kept our AAA credit rating and we've been able to keep record investment in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in Medicare, in schools, in hospitals. And we've fought off a pandemic which has enabled us to save 40,000 lives, achieve one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, particularly here in Western Australia, and has ensured that our economy has come out of this stronger, both in jobs and the strength of our economy, than the United States even, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom.
This is what our economic management and our financial management has been able to steward Australia through, and we've done that with one simple premise. We back Australians. And we back Australians and the choices they're making, like the young apprentices you've seen here. We back their employers and we back them to keep them in the job. Now they're finishing their training and they will be able to tool up our economy for the decades ahead.
JOURNALIST: I suppose the question is now, will they back you? Does your Prime Ministership live or die on this Budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Every single Budget, every decision that we take as a government is important, and this Budget is important like the many before it, like the Budget we introduced to save the Australian economy during the course of the pandemic. The Budgets we've introduced to guarantee the essential services and ensure that the important medicines that Australians rely on to change their lives and to make them affordable. The Budget that has seen us invest $21 billion over the next decade to ensure we not only achieve our emissions reductions target, but we set up Australia to be a major energy exporter with hydrogen and the many other new energy technologies over the next 50 years and beyond. Every Budget we've delivered has made Australia stronger, and this Budget will make Australia stronger because a stronger economy means a stronger future.
JOURNALIST: How are you planning to tackle inflation then and make sure real wages aren't falling backwards?
PRIME MINISTER: We will continue to tackle inflation through strong financial management that we have demonstrated. You know, before the pandemic, it took us all the way to the pandemic hitting to deal with the mess that we inherited from the Labor Party when they were last in government. We had to deal with the fiscal and financial mess that they left behind, and the failed programs that they put in place. And it took, by the time we got to the pandemic, we had been able to balance the budget, and we did that by ensuring that we managed our spending well and we supported the growth of the Australian economy, and that has been the right formula to ensure that we can grow our economy, that we can get our budget under control, and that we can keep the downward pressure on inflation. Problem with Labor is, when they start spending, they can never stop. They have, they don't have the discipline. During the pandemic, Labor would have spent an extra $81 billion. You'll remember, when JobKeeper was coming to an end, they said you can't, you can't stop JobKeeper, you must extend it. Otherwise, there will be hundreds of thousands of people who lose their jobs. Well, they were wrong. Hundreds of thousands of people went into jobs, and we were able to turn JobKeeper off when it should have been turned off because the Australian economy needed people back at work. And so we have the discipline to know when you need to spend and when you need to stop. Labor have never demonstrated that discipline in government.
JOURNALIST: So will pensioners get that bonus payment on Tuesday?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have got a cost of living package, which works right across the Australian community, and the Treasurer will be outlining that on Tuesday night.
JOURNALIST: Is there a reason this apprenticeship scheme is only lasting for three months and not into the next year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that shows a bit of a misunderstanding of the scheme, because this scheme has been running for about two years now and it enables people to come into apprenticeships and be in those apprenticeships. I mean, these payments don't stop on the 30th of June. These payments keep going well beyond the 30th of June and keeping people in apprenticeships in the years ahead. And we'll have, we'll have more to say about how we are, as the Minister said, going to be continuing our record investments in apprenticeships and traineeships and in skills education in this country. We'll have more to say about that on Tuesday night. Today, what we're saying is the very successful program that we've been running, we're going to extend it. And the $7.6 billion supporting more than half a million Australians to be in trades, to be in training, to be skilled, that's going to continue. No government has been able to get more apprentices in trade training at any one time than this government has for as long as economic records have been kept.
JOURNALIST: You say every budget is important but is this is more important for you going forward?
PRIME MINISTER: It's important for the Australian people. Budgets are not about governments. They are not about me. They're not about Josh Frydenberg. They're not about Anthony Albanese or anyone else that sits in the parliamentary chamber. The budgets that I've been involved in, and this will be my eighth, I did three budgets as a Treasurer and this will be my fourth as a Prime Minister. For Josh Frydenberg as Treasurer, this is his fourth as a Treasurer. Those who would seek to hold this office after the next election from the Labor party, they've never done a budget, never done a budget. They've never had to face the decisions that we have faced over these very difficult years and made the hard calls that we have made that have put the Australian economy in a stronger position than the most advanced economies and nations in the world. And so this budget once again, is about Australians. The pressures they face, the cost of living pressures that they're having to deal with, to guarantee the essential services that they rely on to ensure that we can keep them safe, that we can support the Defence forces that secure our position in a very volatile Indo-Pacific region. It's about the economic plan which is going to guarantee their economic success, not just over the next couple of years, but for the decade ahead. But so you're right though, the next election, it is a choice, not a referendum. It's a choice. And all choices have consequences and the choice for the Liberals and Nationals and particularly Kristy McSweeney here in Swan, the choice at this election, a choice to vote for Kristy McSweeney or Ben or the rest of our team in Western Australia here and right around the country. That is a choice for a stronger economy. That is a choice for a stronger future. A choice for Labor will have the consequence of all the risks that go with that. A leader of the Labor Party who frankly doesn't know who he is and if he doesn't know then, how on earth can you know, because he's not being straight with you and you know, with me what you see is what you get. People either like it or they don't like it, but they're never unclear about where I stand, particularly when it comes to issues of the economy and national security. Anyway, we'll be standing up again. I will anyway in a few hours’ time to make a very important announcement here about health services here in Western Australia. But I want to thank particularly all the apprentices who joined us today and I want I wish them all the best. They've got a massive future ahead of them, and we want to ensure that we can guarantee that future by ensuring they've got a strong economy to live and work in. Thank you, everyone.
Press Conference - Gordon, NSW
26 March 2022
MRS WENDY CARVER, CEO, HARBOUR TO HAWKESBURY LIFELINE CENTRE: Well, good afternoon, everyone. My name's Wendy Carver. I'm the CEO of Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury. And it's my very great pleasure to welcome you all here today to our Lifeline centre at Gordon. I'm quite sure, actually, no, this is the very first time we've had such distinguished guests at our centre, particularly the Prime Minister of Australia.
On behalf of Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury, I'd like to now acknowledge that this meeting today is being held on the lands of the Darug people of the Kuringgai Nation, who are the traditional custodians of the land that we are standing on today and that we deliver our Lifeline services in. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water, community, and we pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging.
I would also like to acknowledge those with suicide-lived experience and lived [I think?] experience. We acknowledge the lives lost to suicide and we recognise those struggling today or in the past with thoughts of suicide, mental health issues or crisis situations. We acknowledge those who care for their loved ones and those experiencing the pain of bereavement through suicide. We respect the expertise of those with lived or living experience and their contribution to the work that we do at Lifeline.
I'd now like to formally welcome the Prime Minister, the Honourary Scott Morrison to Lifeline. Paul Fletcher, the Member for Bradfield, who we know very well here at Lifeline and Minister, who is also the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities, and the Arts of Australia. Colin Seery, the CEO of Lifeline Australia. John Brogden, Lifeline's Patron, who I don't think is a stranger to any of you here today, and Lifeline colleagues, friends and volunteers. And I'd now like to pass you over to Paul Fletcher. Paul.
THE HON. PAUL FLETCHER MP, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS, URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE, CITIES AND THE ARTS AND MEMBER FOR BRADFIELD: Well, thank you very much, Wendy. It's great to be here with you, with the Prime Minister, with John Brogden as the Chair of Lifeline, and as Member for Bradfield, I'm very, very pleased to have the Prime Minister here and for the significant announcement he will shortly be making.
Can I say what a wonderful service Lifeline is, and particularly this centre here at Gordon for Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury. I have visited here on a number of occasions, seen the wonderful work that the volunteers do, and just now we've had the chance to be briefed on the Lifeline model, spoken with some of the telephone counsellors, and it really is a very practical and effective model. Previously I served as Minister for Social Services, and I know well from that just how valuable the role that Lifeline plays around Australia. And can I particularly say how proud I am of the volunteers. Many of the volunteers here at Gordon are constituents of mine in Bradfield but I know there's people who've certainly come from further afield than that. All of them brought together by a passion to help their fellow Australians in a very effective way.
So I'm just delighted to be here with the Prime Minister, with Wendy Carver, with John Brogdon, and with everybody else here who does such great work. Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Paul. And thank you for your welcome. Thank you for the welcome to country here as well. Great to be here with you all. John, it's great to be here with you. We've been friends for a very long time. And can I thank Colin, can I thank everybody who's involved in the Lifeline family, and I think that was the key message that came across to me today was the, was this is a family of volunteers, of community which is just showing that love of a family to Australians all around the country. Yes, we're here in in Gordon in the leafy North Shore suburbs of Sydney, but the calls being taken here are being taken from all around the country. They're being taken by people who are flood victims up in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, or people who've just come off shifts in the mines up in Western Australia, or down in Tasmania - wherever they're calling from, they're calling into here and centres just like this all around the country.
You know, each year, some 65,000 Australians attempt suicide. Just let that figure sink in - 65,000 Australians attempt suicide, and sadly over 3,000 Australians die by suicide. And that equates to the loss of nine Australians every day to suicide. These statistics, you can write on a page, but they're they're the lived experience of so many families and communities all around this country, and with every one of not just those 3,000 fatal cases, but those other 65,000 cases. Just then multiply that into the friends and the family and the communities that are around them, and this is something that impacts on our society right across the country.
There is no part of this country that is not touched by mental health issues, no part of the country which is not touched by the threat of of suicide, suicide ideation, or indeed deaths by suicide. You can be from any walk of life. It doesn't respect your bank account, your gender, your ethnicity, your language, your job, your age. It doesn't respect any of that. It can come and touch anyone, anywhere in this country. And that's why I've made this a very important priority of my Government - right from the outset, when we appointed the National Suicide Prevention Adviser; right from the outset, when we adopted our towards zero goal. And there are many parts of the Government and the agencies we support that play a role in that effort, and Lifeline is a very important one of them.
We have funded some $2.3 billion just in the last Budget over the next four years for the National Mental Health and Suicide Plan. Mental health investment is some $6.5 billion in our health portfolio now - $6.5 billion spent every single year, and that number is going up, and that is up from $3.3 billion when we first came to Government. Our Government has always taken this issue incredibly seriously, and the community has likewise. And this works together.
We were talking before around the table, more people are talking about mental health at the moment, and that is fantastic. But it also means that there's a greater awareness and more people need to be equipped to hear and respond and deal with these issues. And we've seen this accentuated during the course of the pandemic. As we stared into the abyss of the pandemic, we knew of the many threats, the risk to life, the risk to people's livelihoods, the economic damage and toll that would be taken. But we also could see beyond those immediate things and see this is going to impact people's families, it's going to impact their isolation, it's going to impact their their mental well-being. And it's going to put stresses on people in this country that we haven't experienced for a very, very long time. And so we were very concerned. And that's why we responded with record levels of investment into services just like Lifeline, whether it was Beyond Blue or Kids Helpline, or any of the important mental health services that are provided around the country. Can I tell you, they responded. The more we pumped into them, the higher their calls went up. Some 22.3 per cent of calls to Lifeline increased between 2019 and 2021. 1.2 million calls for help in this [2021-22] financial year. Now this is a, this is an extraordinary, an extraordinary level of response. So, sorry I should say, from 2021 [sic] to 2022 [sic] there were 1.2 million calls. So this was a very big increase. And what happened during the pandemic was that despite this greater need, we did not see the level of suicide in the country rise. We actually saw it fall at a national level, at a macro level.
Now I know in particular communities in particular places, that is going to be different. But as a nation, during one of the biggest pressures and threats to people's mental health in this country we've ever seen since the Second World War, likely, we actually saw the rate of suicide in this country actually decline, and the people who did that are on the phone right now. They are the lifesavers. I've just come from a surf lifesaving club in my own electorate down in Cronulla. Now they're lifesavers of a different kind down there, but they're, they could be just as much wearing those red and yellow hats in there right now because they're out there saving lives on those calls every hour of the day, 24-7.
And that's why, as we've seen Lifeline respond to the challenge of this crisis and we've seen how amazing the organisation is, we want them to be able to stay at the level of capability that they've risen to and go further. And so today we're announcing an additional $52.3 million in Government funding over four years in the Budget, which will be handed down by the Treasurer, to enable Lifeline to meet that increased demand for crisis support and suicide prevention. This is combined with an extension of the annual funding of $15.5 million per year. That means over the next four years, Lifeline's call crisis service will have the support of some $114.2 million.
Now that is a, that is a vote of confidence in the volunteers who I've had the privilege to meet today in the services and support that sit around Lifeline. We see Lifeline as an essential partner in our towards zero goal on suicide prevention in this country, and I want to thank them all again. I want to thank you, John, for your leadership of the organisation and all of those who are involved. They are great Australians. It'd be great if we could give every single one of them an AO or something like that I want that. But you know ...
MR JOHN BROGDEN, LIFELINE AUSTRALIA PATRON: I'll tell them you said that.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm about to get a lot of applications. But, you know, having met with them today, it's not why they come. They're not looking for reward. They pay to be trained. They pay to volunteer and be here. And so they're not looking for the recognition. But I'm pleased to offer it, because they are great Australians.
A couple of other points I'll make after John speaks, and then we'll take some questions.
MR JOHN BROGDEN, LIFELINE AUSTRALIA PATRON: Look, thank you, Scott. Thank you, Prime Minister. Good to see you again, Fletch. And thank you, Wendy, and all your team, staff and volunteers here at Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury. I'm joined by Colin Seery, who's our CEO, and on behalf of our Chair Jacinta Munro, who can't be here, she's based in Melbourne, I want to thank you all very much for coming.
This is a very historic day for Lifeline across Australia. It's a fantastic day for us, in fact. And I want to start by joining the acknowledgements, particularly for those of us who have living experience of mental illness. And I do want to acknowledge Scott that I think the first time I met your mum and dad we were at the Wesley Centre, where they went to church, and the Wesley Centre in Sydney is where Lifeline started in 1964. So there's a family connection there for you.
When I became the Chairman of Lifeline about 10 or 12 years ago, we were receiving 550,000 calls and we were answering two thirds of them. This year we'll receive 1.1 million calls and we'll answer 90 per cent of them. When I joined the Board of Lifeline, we were receiving $9 million in federal funding. Today, with this announcement, we'll receive just under $30 million in public funding.
What we've noticed is our calls have got more in volume, but also greater in distress, and we have had from the time of the bushfires through pandemic, which is ongoing, and then, of course, into the floods we've seen recently, on average an increase of 2,400 calls a day to 3,100 calls a day. And Scott, we think that's the new normal. And as you said, when you raise awareness of mental illness, when we yell from the rooftops, "Please call Lifeline," and people call us, it's a challenging thing, but it's a good thing, because people have heard the message it's okay not to be okay and don't suffer in silence. Lifeline's there for you, a whole lot of other organisations are there for you. Our biggest day in the history of Lifeline was New Year's Day, over 3,700 calls. And we're an essential service in Australia, we're a triple 0, or, as you say, we're we're life lifesavers without the, without the gear on, but we do an incredible role.
We have over 12,000 volunteers around the country and whether they're on the phones or on our text service or whether they are in fact in our shops, in our op shops and our book sales, doing all those sorts of stuff. We are a community-based organisation and the one thing I would say, Scott, is that our money goes a long way because we can back it up with volunteers and we can get volunteers into the field who help us answer calls every day. We deal with 10 or 20 people every day who are so suicidal that we make the assessment that we need to keep them on the phone and send the police and ambulance to where they are. So that's not the majority of our calls, but we deal with life and death every day, and we've been doing it for, we're in our 60th year now, and we're doing it with great pride and great contribution.
The money today helps to take us to the next level. It helps us to answer more calls, to train more volunteers, to have more support for our volunteers. It helps us to continue from the money you gave us a little while ago, Scott, an extra million dollars to run our new text service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So we've been doing the same thing for about 60 years, which is looking after people and listening to them. We used to do it by phone alone, we're now doing phone and text. And help us innovate as well, because we need to be ahead of the game in terms of how we see our people.
So as somebody who has depression, somebody who has suicidal ideation, somebody who's tried to kill themselves, I can't tell you how important Lifeline is, and Scott I can't tell you how important this money is. This helps us do more. It helps us save more lives. I used to think when our calls went up, that was a bad thing. Now I think it's a good thing, because it's people reaching out and getting help and not suffering in silence, and they're going to keep calling because we're going to keep asking them to call, and you're going to keep asking them to call, and we'll be there. And this money is extraordinary. It makes a massive difference to us right across Australia, about 40 centres right across Australia, and with those volunteers and paid staff and the service, we're there for people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and and we're anonymous. We don't judge you. We just want to get you through that crisis in your life and make you better.
So Scott, on behalf of all of the Lifeline family, thank you very much. Thank you to the Government and thanks for putting this in the Budget on Tuesday, and we're so thrilled and so grateful. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. And John is right, the Budget is on Tuesday, and the Budget was locked a few days ago, but that Budget is all about understanding what Australians are facing right now, but also the economic challenges ahead. It's a plan which is about dealing with the cost of living relief now, but also an economic plan to deal with the challenges that we know are ahead. We've got record investments in essential services and this is a great example of what those essential services are, because you can't pay for essential services unless you run a strong economy. And that's what this Budget is all about. Strong national security and defence also will be featured in the Budget, but at the end of the day, a stronger economy means a stronger future.
I'd also just make one other announcement, and that is that you would have seen the Treasurer today that and I'm sure right across Australia for those who are self-funded retirees, they'll be pleased to know that as part of this plan for a stronger future, the Government is extending the 50 per cent reduction in minimum drawdown requirements until 30th June 2023. For those who I know that is a very big part of how they manage their daily finances, self-funded retirees, in particular, are affected by that. They've saved for their retirement, and they want to be able to ensure that they can protect the assets they've built up to ensure that they can support themselves into the future as well. So that will be extended out beyond to the 30th of June 2023. And I know that will be a welcome, a welcome measure for those who are impacted by it.
Happy to take some questions. Let's stay on Lifeline announcement first and then Wendy and John can, they can excuse themselves and happy to deal with other issues ... Sounds like we've been very comprehensive, we've been very comprehensive. Thank you very much.
MR JOHN BROGDEN, LIFELINE AUSTRALIA PATRON: I just want to say one more thing ...
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, sure John.
MR JOHN BROGDEN, LIFELINE AUSTRALIA PATRON: And that is that that the money you gave us is every cent we asked for. So it's the full Budget submission, which is very generous. We should have asked for more.
PRIME MINISTER: I have no doubt you will on other occasions and we look forward to those Budgets. The answer is usually yes, I've got to say, but nine, $9 million to $30 million a year. That's that's the measure of this Government's support of Lifeline, and I hope the volunteers in particular understand how much they're valued in support of the work they do.
Happy to take other questions.
JOURNALIST: So, Prime Minister, why did it take Andrew Gee threatening to resign for you to fund Veterans' Affairs the backlog in compensation claims?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, I wouldn't agree with that assessment. I mean, what the Budget has funded is the initial work, some of the program that he's outlined, and there'll be further investment that is made after the Budget, which will come from the contingency reserve. We've already invested in, we will invest around $11.5 Billion a year to support our veterans. In the 21-20, 21-22 Budget, we provided an additional $702 million with the focus on wellbeing, suicide prevention and ensuring DVA was appropriately equipped. Now this included measures for departmental operations and processing times, support physical and mental wellbeing of veterans, provisional access to medical treatment programs, we had $30 million to enable DVA to support requests from the Royal Commission. It was $32 million to enable continued recognition of the service and sacrifice of those who serve. There was also reform of veterans support services. Some $500 million has been invested in Veteran centric reform. And on processing times, as a result, as part of our efforts to engage with the community, there has been a doubling of compensation claims received between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the last which we have those figures. And we welcome and encourage veterans to seek that support, just as we welcome and encourage people to seek support from services like this. And in the 21-22 Budget, the funding to improve DVA operations and processing of claims, that meant DVA received 440 additional staff - 440 additional staff to bolster capability in the year ahead to improve their operations and the processing of claims.
Now Minister Gee has only recently come into this portfolio through this Budget process, and I appreciate and acknowledge and commend him for his enthusiasm for the task. He's understanding, as this Government always has, the very pressing needs on veterans, and the program of works that we are, we are supporting, both in this Budget and subsequent announcements to the Budget, will ensure that DVA can go and deliver. Because, you know, it's one thing to make an investment, but you've got to have the confidence that the investments that you're making can then be implemented effectively. And that's the work that the Minister will need to be doing to ensure that the investments we're making can be backed up by the delivery of those investments, and I look forward to him acquitting himself to those tasks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Solomon Islands has confirmed that it is pursuing this security arrangement with China. What are you hearing from Australia's allies about it? Are they concerned? And what can Australia do to stop this? Kevin Rudd, for example, suggested sending Marise Payne there straight away to try and stop this from going ahead.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me make a couple of points. I think there is great concern across the Pacific family because we are in constant contact with our Pacific family and they'll be in further discussions with leaders over the course of this weekend. There was a meeting yesterday with our Head of Mission and Prime Minister Sogavare yesterday to talk through these issues, and they're very aware of our views on this. But I think what these events highlight is the reason why our Government increased our overseas development assistance to the Pacific by 50 per cent. I know that the former Prime Minister was putting some figures around the other day - just straight wrong. They're just not true. We actually increased our investment in overseas development assistance in the Pacific by 50 per cent. It was a step up because we had to step up from where Labor was investing in this area. While they were chasing votes for the Security Council, throwing money in continents far away from our region, we decided to increase our focus and draw together, and this started under Foreign Minister Bishop, drawing together our overseas development assistance from around the world and focusing it on the Pacific region because we saw that as our first responsibility.
And in addition to that, it has been the increase and the equipping of our Defence Forces, which plays such an important role within the Pacific family of nations. And we lifted defence investment from 1.57 per cent, which is what Kevin Rudd left us, and if we'd stayed at Labor and Kevin Rudd's levels, we would have spent $55 billion less on defence since we came to Government and $10 billion less in this year alone. So our Government is the Government that stepped up in the Pacific, and we've stepped up in the face of increasing threats and increasing pressures. And we've been responding to those, and we will respond as a family of Pacific nations, of which Australia is one, New Zealand is another, and we'll be progressing those issues, and we respect the sovereignty of our individual island states in our region. They make their own decisions in their own places and we respect their democracies. And at the same time, though, we will work with our partner states in the Pacific to ensure there is a keen understanding of the risks and threats that we believe this poses, and we've made those positions very clear.
JOURNALIST: Do you think you can convince them to change their mind?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, ultimately, these are the decisions of sovereign governments, and the communication we had yesterday from Prime Minister Sogavare was that he greatly appreciates the incredible support. We are the Solomon Islands' single largest development partner - daylight second, third, fourth. It was when the Solomon Islands recently went into a time of crisis, the first place the Solomon Islands called was Australia, and we sent in our Defence Forces and our police, and they're still there, and we have committed to them being there till the end of 2023. So we will be there on the ground and continue to be there on the ground to support peace and security and stability in the Solomon Islands.
And not just there - it was Australia who turned up in Tonga. It was Australia that turned up in Samoa when they had their measles crisis. It was Australia that turned up in Fiji and vaccinated the Fijian nation, for which Frank Bainimarama was so grateful. It was Australia that turned up in Papua New Guinea for the electrification project and the support for their police force training and recruitment in the centres we've established in Port Moresby. It is Australia that the Pacific have turned to, and no government has committed more time, effort, investment and respect to the Pacific nations than my Government has. It goes back and deep with me over a long period of time, before I even entered politics. I see the Pacific as our family and they are our priority when it comes to our overseas development assistance. And that is reflected in the increasing by 50 per cent in what we've invested in these important programs over what Labor left us.
JOURNALIST: Is there any reason you didn't meet with China's Ambassador?
PRIME MINISTER: I mean, for the same reason that President Xi does not meet with our Ambassador in China. Ambassadors don't regularly meet with heads of government, and that is the case in Australia as well. On occasions we do. But when we have a situation where China has completely blocked any ministerial, minister to minister dialogue between Australia and China, then until those arrangements are removed and that block is removed by China, well, I think Australians would think it would be very inappropriate for me to engage in that dialogue with an ambassador. The Foreign Minister met with the Ambassador, as she does with many ambassadors. But when it comes to a head of government, so long as China continues to refuse to have dialogue with Australian ministers and indeed the Prime Minister, then I think that's an entirely proportional response.
JOURNALIST: But isn't the opposite, actually? Wouldn't you actually meet, if there's a blockage with the ministerial dialogue, wouldn't the Prime Minister actually intervene and talk to the Ambassador?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Isn't it in fact the opposite?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it's not the opposite, because that would be a demonstration of weakness on our part. I can assure you, as Prime Minister, that's the last message I've ever sent to China.
JOURNALIST: How do you respond to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's comments that the Australian Government is, comments about the Solomon Islands agreement is irresponsible, unhelpful and creating tensions?
PRIME MINISTER: I disagree with them completely, and I disagree with them on the basis that we've always been in the Pacific, we've always been there to support. Pacific nations know that we are part of their Pacific family and that we've always prioritised their needs and their interests and respected their sovereignty and haven't sought to influence them or interfere with them in any way. We've been there to support them, and that's what Pacific peoples understand about Australia. And so we're in a position to speak about our family members in the Pacific. Others, I, others’ commentary I don't think is borne by that same experience.
JOURNALIST: Do you believe it's a bad agreement for the region?
PRIME MINISTER: I do.
JOURNALIST: Can I come back to Minister, the Veterans' Affairs Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
JOURNALIST: So were you told by the Deputy Prime Minister that he had been told that Mr Gee would resign if he didn't get the full Budget allocation for Veterans' Affairs [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: This was a Budget submission that had come through. I'm not going to go into the details of the Budget process. Submissions are made in the course of the Budget. The Budget was locked. It is locked. There was always the decision for further funding to be provided under this proposal, which it indeed will, and that was the indication that was provided during the Budget process. Minister Gee is newly in Cabinet and is coming to understand those processes and I appreciate that he, that he does. And we look forward to getting on with those programs. Thanks very much, everyone.
Address, Orygen Parkville, VIC
25 March 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much Pat. It's wonderful to be back here at Orygen today. Can I, like you, commence by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any service men and women and veterans who are with us today as I always do, and acknowledge the struggle of many veterans with mental health issues, which I know Pat and Lucy, are very familiar with, and Christine, who carry that burden as a result of their service. And say thank you for the amazing service you've given to our country.
And we recognise the addictions, the depressions, the nightmares, the PTSD and the many pains that are the result of the service of our veterans. We are pledging once again to stand with you today and always. To Australia's mental health and suicide prevention workers, can I say thank you for your work, particularly over the course of these past two years where your skills, your patience, your physical endurance and mental health endurance also has been pushed to the absolute edge. But I know that you have saved countless lives and we know that through your work, through your purposeful work. I know it is gratifying in the work you do, and I know you love what you do, and you are so passionate about what you do, but it does take a toll. And so to the countless Australians living also with mental illness, I just want to say I see you and I acknowledge our shared humanity and the shared vulnerability that we all have on these issues.
Because mental illness doesn't have an accent, it doesn't have a nationality, it doesn't have a skin colour, it doesn't have a gender, it has none of these things. It doesn't discriminate. It goes where it will, and it touches those who it touches. And so the fact that there has been judgement, and indeed shame, in the past about these things, I think is one of the achievements of this generation, particularly our young generation coming through that are seeking to put an end to that. We face these challenges together and with respect for each other. And with that comes an understanding of the vulnerability and frailty of every single human being. And that is something we all share in common regardless of our past, regardless of our genetics, regardless of our own stories.
It's particularly wonderful to have with me here today, my Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, David Coleman, who's been a friend of mine for a very long time. And David has a capacity to deal with hard problems, but balance that out with a true empathy. And I asked David to do this job just over a year ago now, and he's done tremendous work, and I'm so pleased he can be with me here today. And so thank you, David.
Can I also pay tribute to Greg who is not here, he's had to see the pharmacist this afternoon up in Queensland, but we've been together over the course of this morning and I was really pleased that he was able to join me for the discussion that we just had, and I'll come back to that in a moment. Greg's advocacy and persistent determination about our commitments to mental health across the country, I think, well, it’s one of his greatest legacies as a health minister. Personally, I think Greg Hunt is the best Health Minister the country has ever seen. Because he combined, a lot like David, that incredible intellect with the problem solving capability, with a heart as big as the sun, which is what you need.
Christine Morgan's here. Now, my brains trust is here today. My mental health brains trust is here today between Christine and Pat and Lucy together with my ministers. They are definitely my brains trust on these issues. And to you, Christine, CEO of the National Mental Health Commission and the National Suicide Prevention Adviser, you've taught me so much over these years that you've been in that work, and we both came into these roles not long, about the same time. And we've been on a journey on this, and I'm so pleased to have had your counsel and your support.
And to Pat of course, I can't think of anyone who's done more to elevate awareness of mental health in this country than Pat McGorry. I can't think of anyone who has been more effective in communicating the needs and challenges of mental health to prime ministers, to ministers, to premiers, to chief ministers, those in the bureaucracy. But to do so in a way that is as a partner, it's a very constructive way in which Pat goes about this job, because he's always just interested in getting the outcomes. He couldn't care less about politics. I don't think we've ever had a discussion about politics Pat, ever. But I’ll tell you what, we've talked a lot about the needs of people with mental health and he's always totally focused, his eyes are always on the ball when it comes to these things, and I want to thank you, Pat. Particularly during the course and as you I've acknowledge this many times, together with Christine and Pat and of course, Lucy and those on the Mental Health Commission, we have turned to you time and time again through this pandemic and you've kept us on task the entire time. So to you, and the entire team here at Orygen, thank you for having me back again.
But can I particularly thank Mikey, and Luca and Mali and Aiesha and Johannah and Oscar and Tash for the time we've just spent before coming in here. If you all want to know what courage looks like, go and talk to them. Go and talk to them, that's what it looks like. You want to know what resilience looks like, go and talk to them. So I want to thank you for sharing your experiences with me. It's only redoubled my interest and concern and efforts, I think, to continue going forward in the way that we have.
I thought it was important to return and report to you, it was about 18 months I was here last year, on the progress we're making, the progress we're making on the shared national project. Lucy knows all about that because she's been part of this journey. There was a time in this country when we thought good mental health, good health, I should say, meant your physical health, your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your fitness, your lifestyle. We're all familiar with that. And there was a time when we collectively thought that the answer to difficult circumstances was to tell people to be strong. I was just sharing then, that when I was a kid, it was 'here's a teaspoon of cement, harden up'. That's how mental health issues were dealt with, and it's easy for us to go back and judge those times. But they were those times. And I think the progress that has been made in changing the stigma and understanding of mental health by this young generation is extraordinary. They're changing it, not just for their generation, but future generations as well, because there was a time when issues like an addiction, depression, anxiety, PTSD and trauma were seen as some sort of reflection amazingly of character, rather than matters of physical health ultimately. That's all changed, and it's all changing still. The silence that was the accepted norm is changing. People carrying burdens on their own, and I heard today again that one of the hardest burdens to carry when you're particularly a young person with mental health, but not restricted to young people is the feeling of isolation and internalising those self-created issues and the issues that you're trying to deal with as a result of the stigma. Feeling alone, feeling like you failed, and this is of course, nonsense. It's absolute nonsense, and it's been called out time and again. And what's great is that young people who are challenged and going through mental health challenges are calling it out themselves. They're calling it as they should. And so we need to continue to work hard to put an end to the stigmatisation that occurs and the social norms that have sadly dominated the times in the past and are still there. But if ignored, if ignored, they will continue and we certainly won't be doing that. And we want to ensure that people feel comfortable talking about mental health and about death by suicide as well. In the past, of course, funding was sporadic, but with the great advocacy of Pat and so many others around the country, we've been able to change that as well. There were gaps between well-meaning but often underfunded services, and I have no doubt there are still gaps and we're going to still keep working to close those gaps. Symptoms were tackled, but the causes overlooked complex problems, well they stayed complex and frequently became worse. And for too many people facing mental health issues and for those who care for them, who we shouldn't gloss over either. Lucy and I were there last Saturday week with the Kookaburra Kids Foundation, which supports young people who live in families where there is mental illness and it recognises the burden that they carry as well, out of the love and care they have for their siblings or indeed their parents. And so for those who care for them too, an inaction in the past has added to that despondency, but most of all stole hope. And it was so pleasing to be with Mikey and Luca and everybody today and to see the hope expressed in what they spoke to me about.
So, all too often, the unspeakable turned into the unimaginable, and for some, the result was funerals. As Mikey was telling me, Headspace saved his life. And with mourners struggling to understand the disconnect between the action of death by suicide and the person that they knew all too often it was a bolt from the blue, with family and friends and colleagues unaware of the burdens and struggles of the people they loved and what they were going through. But that realisation came all too late. I think of the undiagnosed burdens, the quiet toll of those undiagnosed burdens over generations, and I think of my own grandfather who served in the Second World War. A defining experience of his life, he was one of the first to sign up, and I only knew him as an older man. I won't say an old man because he passed away in his 60s, but I knew him through his late 50s and 60s. And away from all he knew when he was a young man, confronting the brutality and deprivation of war, and then expected just to return home, as if the tour was over and not ever say a word, except on Anzac Day, when he'd have a few beers with his mates down in Bronte Beach or up at the local pub at The Charles, and after all, it's not there anymore. But after all the logic had gone and what was right to do and have to complain when he was thinking, well, I survived, so how do I have the right to talk about anything bad that happened to me? And I'd ask Pop, because we used to walk along the cliffs of the eastern beaches where I grew up, when I was a kid, and I'd ask him about what happened. He never talked about it, never talked about it. But after he passed away some time, my grandmother would tell me of their life and how Pop would wake up in the middle of the night with terrible nightmares. And his silence didn't help his PTSD and he suffered with it, and I suspect it probably claimed his life because of the anxiety that was associated with his high blood pressure and hypertension and things like this.
But a new generation has a different experience. And while time might heal some wounds, it won't heal them all, unless you confront them. And over these past few years, that's what we've been doing. And as a nation, I think it's what we've all been doing, ushering in a generational change about how we see and address mental health issues. So again, I pay tribute to the team here at Orygen for the world leading research and work they put in place in clinical practice. Part of this generational change has been recognising that mental illness is a normal part of life, just like physical illness is a normal part of life - and sometimes, as I was hearing this morning, it's enduring and you've still got to be wary and stay on top of it and have the strategies to manage it. For some, it might be for an episode or a period of time in their life, but equally, these must be addressed managing stress and emotions, anxiety and difficult circumstances. It's just a normal part of life and what it means to be a human being. And our mental health is best managed when we do it in partnership with others and those we love and those who we can get proper care from. Because in a typical year, and we haven't many of those lately, I can't say I've had a typical year in the entire time I've been Prime Minister, it's been very untypical times. But one in five Australians, still, regardless of the times, experience a mental health issue. One in five. Around five million of us in a normal year. And around half of us experience a mental health issue during their lifetime. And the most common experiences are, of course, depression, anxiety and substance use disorders.
And right now, more than one million Australians, as we speak here, are living with an eating disorder. One million Australians. And for many Australians, mental health, mental ill health emerges early in life, 75 percent of adults with mental illness first experience mental ill health before the age of 25. And that underscores the important work of Orygen and of Headspace, and we also know that too many lives are lost to death by suicide. On average, nine Australians are lost to death by suicide every single day. That's nine too many, every single day. Men and boys make up three quarters of those death by suicides. Women and girls have higher rates of suicide ideation, self-harm and attempts. For every life lost, it is conservatively estimated that 135 people are impacted. That's nine - multiply that by 135. Naturally, some more profoundly than others. And for friends, family and colleagues who are bereaved by suicide, they in turn, become two to five times more likely themselves to sadly go down that path. In 2020, there were 223 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who died by suicide. That's more than double the rate for the non-Indigenous population. And suicide is the fifth leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
And our service men and women and veterans, they're also a great risk. Between 2001 and 2019, there were 1273 deaths by suicide of current and former serving members of the ADF, and they are the known ones. To create some perspective, in Afghanistan, Australia's longest war, 41 Australian service men and women. Men I should say, were killed. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran. Suicide is systematically working through these incredibly sensitive and complex issues faced by those who wear our uniform. And on the basis of these confronting realities, we've set ourselves a goal to improve the mental health of Australians and reduce suicide towards zero. Towards zero. Now some say a zero goal that's unrealistic. What other goal could you accept? What other goal could you not aim for? And that's why our zero suicide focus forces us to reject that notion at every level. There is no acceptable level, and that is why our zero goal compels us. It is an ever receding finishing line, as I was saying to the young people, and it is, but we keep going forward to that finishing line every single day, it compels us to listen to those who have attempted suicide, as well as those who've been impacted by its aftermath. It means we must continually reflect on where and why it's happening. We have to reflect, as Christine reminds me, on the lived experience, the stories of individuals, not just the stats and the data and the metrics. It compels us to study though, the different groups to identify the gaps in services and consider where the system is not meeting its goals and be honest about that. It forces us to try things, and if they don't work, to change it and to do more of the things that do work and not to sort of get lost in some debate about whether things failed or whether things succeed, which often goes into political discussion and frankly, is totally unhelpful. We should try everything we possibly can, call out the things that aren't working, not as a failure, but as a pathway to success. It reinforces that one loss, one loss, one life lost, try and say that quickly. But it's a serious matter. One life lost to suicide is always one too many, and given the extent of the challenge, we have taken a system wide approach to address the ways that government's policies, systems and services interact.
Now to look at the unique issues facing different groups; young people, Indigenous communities, non-English speaking communities, as we were learning just today, new parents, LGBTIQ communities, remote and regional communities. It's about responding to the unique lived experiences I said, the individual within every single group because every single person is different and we have to appreciate their unique value as individual human beings. And we also know that the circumstances of our times can compound mental ill health. Drought, fires, COVID lockdowns, floods, have become like stress fractures, stress fractures in our lives and often in our communities. Our approach has been to simultaneously act with immediacy to those current needs, as well as address the longer term, more systemic challenges, and often those systemic issues are across governments, agencies and services. There's no one answer in any one place, and mental ill-health can cut right across issues such as jobs or the lack of a job. One of the first things, that Pat and I worked on, was how getting young people into a job was part of a holistic response to a young person's mental health treatment. Lack of a job, homelessness, managing debts, relationship breakdowns. As one submission to the Productivity Commission wrote, "Those of us with mental illness need much more than weekly therapy to bring us back to health and stability. We need support, companionship, help connecting to community, help with friendships, and support to study and work." The whole person.
As Treasurer, one of my earliest decisions was to ask the Productivity Commission to deliver a report on mental health. And that report, which I spoke about here in late 2020, is the most comprehensive study of Australia's mental health system ever undertaken. It examined the interaction, the effectiveness of outcomes of the policies, the processes and systems across so many jurisdictions. It also assessed the economic and social costs of our collective action. It acknowledged the significant need for those with a lived and living experience and mental health and suicide to fully participate in reform of the system, in designing the system and the support and care it provided. It also recognised that too many Australians living with mental illness experienced systemic cultural, social and interpersonal stigma and discrimination related to their mental illness. As well, I appointed Christine to take on the role as a result of that, as National Suicide Prevention Adviser, and she drew on the voices and experiences of over 3000 people, and they shared their own lived experiences and the experiences of people they knew and love.
In December 2020, we asked the National Mental Health Commission to develop Australia's first National Stigma and Discrimination Strategy under Lucy's leadership. And the strategy will be about creating a future where stigma and discrimination on the basis of mental ill-health are no longer barriers to being able to contribute. And we have adapted to the advice, we've adopted to that advice and the circumstances we have faced as a country. The first budget that I delivered as Treasurer, and we worked on together, included an additional $740 million dollars in investment over seven years to tackle suicide. In last year's Budget, in response to the Productivity Commission Report and Christine Morgan's advice and the great work that David has done as Minister assisting me on these issues, we announced the biggest package we've ever seen from the Federal Government. $2.3 billion, $2.3 billion in a National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. And the plan represents, as I said, the single largest investment. That's how serious we are about this, and this was happening in the middle of a pandemic. There are many other pressing needs, but this need and this issue did not go away during the pandemic. If anything, the pressures were more intense and the urgency was greater, and the additional $2.3 billion in funding took the total estimated mental health investment of $6.5 billion in the Health portfolio alone in 2021-22, up from $3.3 billion when we first came to government.
As part of this plan, the new initiatives included universal suicide aftercare service for Australians discharged from hospital following a suicide attempt, the most dangerous period. That was very clear, and that's expected to support about 30,000 people a year, when people are at their most vulnerable. We get it, we recognise it, and working together with the states and territories to provide that support in that critical time zone. National suicide postvention services to support those bereaved by suicide. Establishing 32 new Head to Health Adult Mental Health Centres to do for the adult population, which John Howard started doing for the youth population through the establishment of Headspace. Further expansion of the Headspace network to 164 sites, establishing 15 Head to Health Kids centres. Funding for a National Eating Disorder Research Centre. Psychological support for 14,000 people with severe mental illness who did not qualify for the NDIS. And working with the Gayaa Dhuwi and Lifeline to establish a culturally appropriate 24/7 crisis line to be delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. And as Minister Wyatt has rightly said, "The fact that Aboriginal people are dying by suicide at twice the rate of non-Indigenous Australians is one of the gravest and most heartbreaking challenges we face. We need to address the influence of social and cultural factors if we are to see significant change," Ken said.
Now, of course, the COVID storm hit us all. I received over 100,000 letters and emails from Australians about their pandemic experience. It's one of the great privileges of Prime Minister, is Australians share their stories with me. I had a great team at PM&C who helped ensure everyone received a reply, on some cases that involve deliberately intervening to get action and support and services to individuals, who these letters were direct cries for help. And the stories where unique, a single person feeling isolated and alone in their own one-bedroom apartment. During lockdown, the common story, the father who had lost his job through border closures, was separated from his wife and child overseas. The parent who left their job to provide online learning at home, not knowing how to make ends meet. The mother pregnant and in hospital and separated from her other children who could not visit her. The thousands of families with parents in aged care, many of whom were suffering from dementia and couldn't understand why they were alone. Well, we worked to contain the virus in parallel. We worked hard from the start to provide Australians with the resources they might need, informed by experts, as well as the lived experience of Australians, we developed the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Response Plan, one of the few countries to do that during the pandemic. It focused on the urgent provision of telehealth and expanding the capability and responsiveness of existing services, and it was backed by a $1 billion investment.
We increased the number of Medicare-subsidised psychological therapy sessions from 10 to 20, and we expanded the eligibility to residents of aged care facilities to such sessions, something that had previously been limited by previous governments and through, though life has been returning to normal, thank goodness, with the vaccinations doing their job. We are at 95 per cent double dose today, we will continue to face the emotional debris and damage and the mental health impacts of these times for many years, as both Christine and Pat have reminded me on many occasions.
This impact of this pandemic, for mental health, will go well beyond once the physical pandemic passes. The Black Dog Institute highlights the mental health impacts of adversity and trauma and how they accumulate, and the need was clearly there. Calls to Lifeline, who do a tremendous job, increased by 22 per cent. Calls to the Butterfly National Hotline, the hotline that deals with eating disorders, rose by up to 22 per cent. Never before have we seen such a surge in the demand for these services, and that surge in demand for service was matched every time those services were called and said, ‘we need more support’. The checks were written immediately, within, within the day, and we just kept piling the support and resources into the same, the Kids Helpline is another one, so many, Beyond Blue.
And it's to the credit of Australians and all our mental health support services that despite this national trauma, and I still find this, this outcome hard to believe, given what Australia was going through. The number of suicides. The suicide rate during the pandemic actually fell. They're probably saying, 'that can't be true". Now, that's at a national rate, and of course, at different states and territories and different communities, you're going to see different patterns emerge. But I can tell you what we thought it was going to do as we looked into that pandemic and the abyss of that crisis. I can tell you what we feared would happen. That the idea that it would actually stay steady and actually decline at a national rate was a hope that we dared to express. That is one that this country has achieved. And the lesson is that acting pre-emptively works. Backing services that work works, and focusing on prevention works best.
And that's also the approach we've been taking to the compounding natural disasters that Australians continue to face. It's why we've already committed $35.9 million in health services and mental health support to communities affected by the East Coast floods. Importantly, as we know from our experience responding to other disasters, the impacts of trauma, also and hardship, can be long felt and as such, we will continue to need to listen to people and provide the support that is necessary. If we need to do more, and I have no doubt we will, we will. And we've got the track record, I think, to demonstrate that. Our support for communities and individuals rebuilding their lives continues long after the virus, the disaster, the flames, the floods, even the mouse plagues and the mice are gone. Long after that's gone, the mental health challenges remain, and we will continue to stand with individuals and communities as they seek to rebuild, however long that takes.
So finally, looking to the future and I appreciate your patience, but you can see this is an area of great interest and passion of mine. And I know you share it. The Productivity Commission identified the challenge before us, and that was to build a system centred on the experience of those with mental health and that of their carers, to put them in the middle of our gaze and how the system works. A system that seeks not to have gaps, one that is easy to navigate. These are big goals, they're hard goals to achieve. They're ambitious, and our government has made mental health a top priority and suicide prevention a national priority, because it can't be anything less. We're committed to genuine reform and have been demonstrating that. That all Australians can get access to the support that they need, when and where they need it.
Our plan for future communities continues our vital investment across just five pillars. To invest in prevention and early intervention. Suicide prevention, secondly. Thirdly, new and expanded treatments in communities where people live and work. Fourthly, supporting vulnerable communities which are at greater risk and fifthly growing, upskilling and supporting the mental health workforce, including our peer workers.
I mentioned earlier that we're striving for better coordination to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the investments that we make and just last month the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement came into effect. That agreement is about governments identifying, agreeing on roles and responsibilities and planning for the implementation of actions. It's also about collaborating on monitoring and evaluation, working together to address gaps in the system, building the workforce we have and improving suicide prevention for all Australians. This provides a stronger framework for engagement, cooperation and communication between governments and understands that we all have responsibilities here, which in turn will bridge the gaps that so often exist between governments at state and federal level, and will make a meaningful contribution to that, towards your own goal.
Now we've signed bilateral funding agreements now with New South Wales, with South Australia, with Northern Territory, very close to signing with a number of other states and in particular, the ACT was able to sign off on that one this morning. And we look forward to completing with all of them, and I'd encourage the remaining Premiers to get their pens out, let's get on with it. The New South Wales agreement provides more than $383 million in New South Wales over five years. The South Australian agreement provides $127.8 million, with $66 million of the total provided by the Commonwealth. The Northern Territory Agreement provides more than $43 million, with $30.6 million invested by the Commonwealth. And I want to particularly think David again for the great work he's done in working collaboratively in the states, putting politics to one side and just getting this done.
I know there's lots going on here in Victoria at the moment. The Premier and I have only been texting each other this week about how we can progress the agreement here in Victoria. I know the Victorian Government is already investing a great deal in the response to the Royal Commission here. And we, we will recognise that investment in that agreement that we bring together, and I hope we'll be able to conclude arrangements there soon.
An essential part of these agreements is providing vital support for what has been termed the missing middle. Those who are too unwell for general primary care but not unwell enough to require in-patient hospital services and intensive state-based community care.
The Early Psychosis Youth Service. It is clear that we must provide even more support to young people through this, through this channel facing severe and complex mental trauma. Their needs are unique. That's why today I'm announcing here $206 million investment to continue and expand the Early Psychosis Youth Service and the Youth Enhanced Services to support young people experiencing severe and complex mental illness. I love investing in things that I know works and changes lives, and EPYS does exactly that. It will provide continued funding for existing EPYS Hubs over the coming years and for Orygen to continue the National Centre of Excellence in Youth and Mental Health. It will also expand the EPYS network into every single state and territory with new hubs. Really excited about this to be established in Tasmania and the ACT. The new funding for the EPYS program is expected to benefit more than 4,000 young people, just like those I've met here today. Young people aged between 12 and 25 years. There are young people with ultra-high risk of currently experiencing their first episode of psychosis, and I look forward to further strengthening our partnership with Orygen and delivering the expansion of this critical service. And again, if more needs to be done, Pat knows we'll do it. He's probably had more yeses out of me as a Social Services Minister, a Treasurer and the Prime Minister of the day. Your strike rate is to be envied, I'm sure, by every other health advocacy group in the country. But that's a credit to the way he goes about the business and keeping it focused on what works and keeping us focused on the partnership.
So the goal towards zero suicides means we have the services in place to tackle mental illness whenever, wherever it is presented. It means prevention, not letting things escalate. Giving voice to every community in this country. And early in the pandemic, I received an email that I haven't forgotten. First line said, "Prime Minister, I have good days and bad days. Today is a bad day." That's what they wrote to me. Our job is to help people have more good days. We know there will be bad days. Anyone living with mental illness knows that is a reality. But we're going to have more good days ahead. And that's what this funding and that's what our commitment as a Government is to you, that you will have more good days. It's that simple. But it's as hard as well as we know. The work we're doing, it's generational transformation. That's the work you're doing for the thousands of young lives, creating countless and better days ahead.
So thank you for your very patient attention. There is so much to do as an impact. There is just so much to do. We have done so much already, but our plan for the future, I think, is exciting. So thank you very much for everything you do.
Press Conference - Randwick, NSW
25 March 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's great to be here at the Royal. It's great to be surrounded by such an amazing group of people, largely women. But there's a couple of us blokes here as well. And there’s good reason for that, because what we're here to announce importantly today is some really, really important changes that we're making in areas that so impact on the journey that particularly women have throughout the course of their lives. This is an area that has touched mine and Jenny’s life. But it isn't just about our story, it’s about the story of millions of women all around the country.
Today we’ve come together, and I want to introduce everyone who's with us. We've got Alex Wolfe from Endometriosis Australia. Gai Brodtmann also here joining us. Good to see you, Gai. I’ll come back to you in a second. Donna Ciccia who’s from Endometriosis Australia, Director and the Co-founder. We've got Professor Jason Abbott, who's here at the School of Women's and Children's Health. Dr Susan Evans who’s from Pelvic Pain Foundation. Jess Taylor from QENDO, which is Queensland Endo, and it's great to have Jess here. She’s going to make a few comments a little later. And Syl Freedman from EndoActive. And so you can take from that we're going to have a bit to say about endometriosis in a few minutes’ time.
But also together with us today is the Casella family, who I first met back in 2018. And Jon Casella and Rachael Casella are here with us, and Rachael’s going to have a bit to say about another very important announcement we’re making today. And Izaac Casella is here. He’s fast asleep in his pram, and he is the brother of Mackenzie, Mackenzie Casella. And Mackenzie’s Mission was named in her honour, and a number of years ago, back in 2018, we commenced the trial program, which was about genetic testing to support people who are looking to have children be able to get tested for a range of different genetic disorders that would enable people to plan and to have choices and to ensure that they could pursue their dream of having children, and at the same time, having greater confidence about the children that they’ll be bringing into the world and being able to raise. And they’re joined, of course, by all the grandparents, well, three of the grandparents are here today - David Banham and Wendy Banham. I didn't see Wendy before, she might be around here somewhere. And Ross and Linda Casella, so it's great to have all of you here with us to this very important announcement.
Now as I said, these two issues you mightn’t think are related - spinal muscular atrophy and cystic fibrosis and endometriosis. Well, when it came to our own journey, when Jenny was a mid-teen all the way through to her mid-20s, it wasn't until then that she learned that she was suffering from endometriosis, and Jenny has told her story over the last 24 hours. And I want to thank her, and I know everyone around me thanks Jenny for doing that. She told the story of crippling and terrible pain, and I knew it, because Jenny and I started going out when I was 16, and she lived through that, and she's incredibly tough, I know that personally. But this was the most awful thing to see someone you love going through every single month and not understanding why, having been to the doctor and been given some medication, but not understanding what was causing this every single month. And then, as I said, she was diagnosed with very severe endometriosis, and this happened at the same time that we were in the process of trying to have a family and understanding why we were having challenges there. And so these stories of fertility treatment and endometriosis for us came together.
And everybody's story about trying to realise their dream of having children is very different. For many, they are blessed and it just happens, and that's the majority. But there are millions of Australians for whom that is not their story, and for many different reasons, and endometriosis is one of them. But there are many others. And there are others who are seeking their dream of having children. And that dream, even after it’s realised, as it was the case in Mackenzie’s case, it’s crushed, because of debilitating diseases and genetic conditions that destroy life.
And so what today is about is saying to all Australians and talking to them about their dream of having children, their dream of trying to live a life which is pain-free, or as pain-free as you can make it, and being able to live with conditions like endometriosis and to be able to manage that pain about going about your life, about not having to plan your entire day about how you manage endometriosis - about the sort of jobs you can have, the sort of holidays you can go, whether you can go out at night, whether you can see your friends or, you know, whether you can even go and exercise, and ultimately about whether you can have children or not. What sort of job you can choose to have because you have to think about how you're going to manage that condition.
So we know, but that's not why we're doing it. We know as a family, Jenny and I, that it impacts just so many other lives. One in nine Australian women and girls suffer from endometriosis, and they suffer. I can't underscore that more strongly. It is a disease that you suffer with, and constantly and regularly, and it is unrelenting. It is so, so hard on people. And for those who love them, it is also very hard to see them go through it. And we're doing something about that today, and I'm going to come to SMA and cystic fibrosis in just a moment.
But what we're announcing today for endometriosis is a $58 million package, and this builds on the work Nicolle Flint and Gai Brodtmann started. Nicolle and Gai, when Gai was in the Parliament, they set up the Friends of Endometriosis, and there are others - Nola Marino, who's another colleague who's very passionate about this as well and her daughter and what they went through. And this was about Parliamentarians working together to bring the focus on a very important issue. Two, I know, very influential but very persuasive with Nicolle, and I'm sure Gai would agree with me, that's the way to describe Nicolle. And the two of them worked together to make sure we got focus on this issue, and began, we began the Endo Action Plan back there in 2018, and here we are today with a $58 million package, which is designed to address the many different needs - whether it is the specialised pain clinics, some $16.4 million, the pain clinics that are there to provide support to women and girls who are going through this terrible, this terrible condition, and how they can manage to get access to the right advice, the pain management, the options that they have in front of them. There is no cure for this, but all the time they’re learning better ways to how people can live with it and try and minimise the impact it has on their lives, that the rest of us take for granted in so many different areas.
There's support for the Endometriosis Management Plan, there’s support for clinical scientific trials, there’s support for clinical practice guidelines. These things make a huge difference in being able to early diagnose and support women early on. I can only imagine if how different Jenny’s life would have been had she found out when she was 16, not when she was, you know, in her mid-20s - 26 - and how different that could have been. And that wasn't the doctor's fault. Jenny at no time, I've never heard her say once, she's never blamed the medical profession for that. Not once. That’s just never as, that’s her nature, I’ve got to tell you. But at the same time, it's important that we get the education and the awareness, so clinical professionals and others know and can pick up on it and connect people to services, and that's what this plan is all about. There’s changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, there’s digital learning tools and education tools.
And so I'm really proud of this package because it's about focusing on the health issues that really matter to women and girls every single day. It's going to mean, I think, a better health future for our kids, for our young girls growing up, and going through a time in their life when everything's changing, everything's changing for them. Their bodies are changing, their health is changing, their outlook is changing. And to be having to deal with something like this at the same time and to have the support available is very important to our country. And I'm very pleased to ensure we've committed that in the Budget.
The other program we're announcing today is the realisation of Mackenzie’s Mission. And this was back in 2018, we put in place funding to begin a trial program, a trial program to do testing to check if couples were carriers of particular conditions - spinal muscular atrophy was one of those, SMA. And this is just a heartbreaking disease. It is just absolutely terrible. And Jenny’s got to claim some credit for our focus on this one too, because I remember, I told this story, you’ll remember that there was an awareness forum going on in the Parliament, not unlike what Gai and Nicolle would do on endometriosis. And this was on SMA. I was Treasurer at the time and Jenny rang me up. And she became aware of this because of a friend of hers in the Shire had had had experience with this and then suffered terribly. And she said, “What are you doing today?”, I sort of ran through what was a pretty busy diary. She said, “Forget it, you're go to that forum and you’re going to listen [inaudible].” And I did what any man in that situation would do and just say, “Yes.” And I'm glad I did. I walked in the back and I sat at the back of the room quietly, and I just listened to heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story.
And I walked out of there and I said, “We're going to do something about this,” and linked up with Greg Hunt and the Casellas, and we began that trial program that provided for the clinical testing of couples looking to have children who would have been going through the very things I've just been talking about often as well. And so we put Mackenzie’s Mission to work, and it’s done its work and it's proved to be incredibly effective. And so today we're announcing that we will help couples plan for their pregnancy by investing $81.2 million to create a new Medicare item to support access to genetic testing for three serious genetic conditions. And they are, of course, spinal muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis and fragile syndrome. And so we'll be going forward with that. Mackenzie lives on in these programs and providing hope and reassurance and comfort to Australians as they're looking to create the most precious thing we have, and that is family.
So with that, I’m going to ask Nicolle to say a few words, and then Jess is going to speak about the measures that we've announced for endometriosis. And then Rachael is going to come and tell us her story as well. So thank you all very much for being here with us today.
MS NICOLLE FLINT MP, MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: That definitely does deserve a round of applause. This is absolutely huge for Australian families, for women, for girls, but also the wonderful men in our lives who support us, whether it's through the tragedy that people like Rachael and Jon Casella have been through. And I know Ross and Linda, Jon's parents, really really well, and it's just devastating that they lost Mackenzie, but to have so much good come out of one beautiful little girl's life. And this is a huge announcement today. And PM I hope I do as well as you and don't get too emotional, because this is a really emotional day. Look, you know, giving hope to families, giving assistance to families and, of course, helping women and children and families with endometriosis, as well as the genetic testing announcement.
It is wonderful to be back here at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. This is where in 2018 we announced the first ever National Action Plan on Endometriosis, and that is thanks to my former colleague, the amazing Gai Brodtmann, but all of these incredible women behind me, and Professor Jason Abbott, holding up the men’s team as well, and the PM and Minister Greg Hunt. So in 2018, we announced the first ever National Action Plan on Endometriosis. We had, we funded $22 million of research, education awareness, clinical practice guidelines between now and then. And today, we are announcing $58 million of further funding for endometriosis.
This is an absolute game changer for women and girls around Australia. The funding we are announcing today will change lives for the better, and I'm so grateful to the Prime Minister and Mrs Jenny Morrison for bravely and generously sharing their story because we know, and I know personally because I was quite shockingly to me diagnosed with endometriosis in early 2020, and knowing Jenny's story gave me a huge amount of hope. Because I knew a lot of horror stories and I knew that having a stage four endometriosis, which was the most severe form, my surgery was going to be complicated - it went for three and a half hours - and I knew a lot of horror stories, because Gai Brodtmann and I had done so much advocacy work together with these incredible groups with us today. But hearing and knowing that Jenny got through it, that she and the PM were able to have their two beautiful girls and that Jenny’s life was changed for the better and she was able to get her pain under control, she was able to finally get the help she needed was of such comfort to me.
And so there's a lot that we've announced today that will provide similar comfort to women, girls, families around the nation. The $16.4 million, course, for the pelvic pain clinics is crucial. If you can manage women's pain in conjunction with getting the endo under control, they can, like I do, like a lot of women in this room today, live very successful, fulfilling lives and have fantastic careers. So this is a game changer. No Government has ever done this in the history of Australian politics, and I just could not be more proud that we're rolling out the pain clinics in every state and territory. And part of this is the nurse navigators, which is critical to make sure that it’s every level of the health profession who are involved in treatment and support for women - allied health, whether that’s pelvic physios, whether that’s dieticians, of course, our specialist, pain specialists, GPs, nurses. We have proper holistic care for endo, which is what we will be supporting women and girls around the nation to to achieve. You can, you can have a great life and a very fulfilling life, and a largely pain-free life for so many women.
We are also, I’ve spoken about the power of other women's stories and how much that's helped me in my journey, and I know a lot of people here have shared their stories with me, and that's helped me as well. We’ve provided funding for a mentoring program for women who have just been diagnosed and need a little bit of peer to peer support to have that reassurance from other women that, they know what they’re going through, and it will be ok.
We are also, very importantly, funding some workplace education as well, because the more employers that we can educate about the impact of endometriosis and support the women in need, the better. Because as I hope I provide the example of every day, you can, you can work at the highest levels of Government with endo, you can do anything, as long as we get you the support and the medical care you need, which is precisely what $58 million in funding are doing today.
The Prime Minister has covered off on a lot of what we're doing. I just want to acknowledge, most of all, the incredible groups around me - the Australian Coalition for Endometriosis came together with, through Gai and I, we all worked together, way back in 2017, and decided as a group that we were stronger together and that we would achieve the change that Australian women have so desperately needed, if we worked as a team. And I am so proud to be here today with these incredible women and Professor Jason Abbott and the PM. And, you know, we couldn't have done it without Minister Greg Hunt, as well. So we've had incredible men supporting us. But ACE is comprised of the Pelvic Pain Foundation, EndoActive, Endo Australia, QENDO and Endometriosis WA, as well. These women have given years of their lives - and the blokes as well - have given years of their lives as, largely as volunteers. They've done this on top of their day to day jobs and things to support women when there was no support available. And I could not be more proud that Gai Brodtmann and I by a fluke chance, came together in the Parliament and have been able to support these incredible groups.
And another key announcement today was the $2.5 million for the continuous development and review of the [inaudible] of clinical guidelines on Endometriosis, which is for the medical profession to make sure that the voices and views of consumers, but also our health practitioners - our incredible, dedicated health practitioners like Dr Susan Evans and Professor Jason Abbott, continue to inform and update these guidelines so that they’re a living document, and Australia remains the place with best practice endometriosis treatment in the entire world.
So thank you to everyone who is here today. I cannot thank my incredible ACE groups enough, and I just couldn't be more proud to be part of a Government and to be led by the Prime Minister who listens and he cares. And he just spoke very, very passionately and in such a caring way about the Casellas. There is nothing more tragic than losing a baby. And as I said, I'm just so proud that we’ve got $81 million of funding to fund genetic tests so that, and that's all thanks to Mackenzie Casella. So her life will be remembered forever. So thank you all for being here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well said.
JESSICA TAYLOR, PRESIDENT, QENDO: Well, this is a great day for endo sufferers, and it's wonderful to have a Prime Minister who understands endometriosis in the way that you do, Mr Morrison.
My name is Jessica Taylor. I am the President of QENDO, and I'm here with my colleagues who form the Australian Coalition for Endometriosis - and that is Endometriosis Australia, EndoActive, the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia, and Endometriosis WA.
This is a welcome investment, and will positively impact Australian endo sufferers for years to come. It's people like Jen and others who share their story that the [inaudible] and national prominence and many, many more people will continue to share this story. And this is how we make action. This is a historic day. This is the largest investment into endometriosis from the Australian Government to date, and that's something worth celebrating.
As a Coalition, and the people around me, plus many more, we have been working tirelessly for many, many years to see some action, and it's wonderful that we can start to get the ball rolling. We're grateful to the Government for this investment and to those who have worked alongside us, and that is Nicolle Flint, Gai Brodtmann, and many other MPs who have advocated in the Parliament for this cause. We're really looking forward to implementing these initiatives with the Government and those who represent us, as well as the consumers who we represent. And together we are stronger and we will see change. Thank you.
RACHAEL CASELLA, MACKENZIE’S MISSION: Please forgive me, this was a very overwhelming day for me and for my family. This is the hospital where Mackenzie was born and this is not far from where Mackenzie passed away. Sorry. I’m overwhelmed. I'm just a mum who wanted to fight for change for my daughter. To many that are listening to this today, this might just be another piece of news. But for those like us that have lost a child or who are fighting through severe severe illness due to genetic conditions, this announcement is everything. The impact that this will have on the future is unable to be measured. The heartache it will save, the babies who won’t suffer, and the early access to treatments that this will provide. This is a huge step and it will make Australia one of the world leaders in genetic carrier screening. I hope that when the infrastructure grows, we will slowly be able to add genetic conditions to this screening.
This announcement comes after years of hard, hard work and pure passion from so many people. They are the unsung heroes. And I wish that all of Australia knew them.
Finally, words cannot adequately describe our gratitude and admiration for Prime Minister Morrison and also for Minister Hunt. We first met the then Treasurer and now Prime Minister Morrison in 2018, and he promised us change. We held our breath, fearful to have hope. But he was true to his word. They've given us the biggest gift that anyone could ever give a grieving parent. They’ve acknowledged our daughter Mackenzie’s life and the other children who should also be here in their parents’ arms or who are suffering from genetic conditions also. They’re showing us that not only do they care about our daughter and the other children’s lives, they are strong and resolute that it will not happen to other people in the future. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Wow. Questions.
JOURNALIST: It takes about more than six years for a diagnosis. How much do you expect that to go down by as a result of this funding?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I might ask others to speak specifically about the clinical aspects of this. But for me, you know, a huge part of what this is about is the managing of the pain. And the research that helps us unlock how we might avoid this in the future. But it's the pain that changes people's life for the worst. And if you change how pain is managed, so people can live their life, then they can live their life for the better. So I would hope to ensure, it's a bit like when I was discussing yesterday about our towards zero suicide goal. What other goal would you have? How quickly would I like this to happen? Immediately. And that's the path I think we're on. And I think in all areas of technological development, in the management of so many of these conditions, it's improving all the time. And in Government, it's a matter of trying to help, and I really want to acknowledge Greg Hunt here, in in both of these areas. Our goal in working together has been just trying to get as much of the support to those who who have the conditions, and dealing with people on a day to day basis as we possibly can - whether it's the drugs they need under the PBS, whether it's the technology they need in their clinics, whether it's the research they need to back up, whether it’s the testing. All of this is designed to try and get the help there faster and sooner. But Susan.
MS NICOLLE FLINT MP, MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: I might add to it PM, as well. Thanks PM, and I’ll ask Susan Evans and also Jason, Professor Jason Abbott to add to this as well. We have already done two key things that are absolutely critical to reducing the diagnosis time. First of all is the education for school girls, young women, but also men as well and boys. And we're seeing a lot of interest from schools who want both boys and girls to receive the education. But when women are empowered, when girls are empowered, when families are empowered with the information about what endometriosis is, what is and isn't normal when you have your period, then people can insist that they get medical assistance that they need. And of course, we have announced today $16.4 million for pain clinics and endometriosis pain and endometriosis clinics nationwide. So the biggest blockage, the biggest problem to date has been a lack of information, awareness and education within the general population.
Dr Susan Evans and the Pelvic Pain Foundation head up the PPEP Talk program, which the Federal Government provided funding for a pilot study and then last year in the Federal Budget, $5 million to take this nationwide, because the pilot was so successful and there's been so much demand with our schools, and that will change the diagnosis time because we will now have a generation of young women and their families who know exactly what their symptoms are and the help that they need to get.
The second thing that we've done that is absolutely critical, and Professor Jason Abbott has been heavily involved in this, is the development by RANZCOG, the obs and gynae peak body, of the clinical management guidelines, and that will be providing, well it does provide further tools, education to our specialists. It will be rolled out to GPs as well, and they can access it now. But part of that also, they developed a fantastic tool called the RATE - R - A - T - E - tool - so people can self-diagnose. So as a woman, if you think that something's not right with your period, Google the RATE tool run by RANZCOG, tick the boxes as you go through, and you you can self-diagnose, you can print it out, you can take it to your GP. And I tell you what, if I had that 10, 20 years ago, instead of getting to the age of 40, 41, when I was diagnosed, I would have self-diagnosed, I would have been able to take it to my GP. And so that's what we're doing. But the, we're doing so much.
We've already done so much in education awareness, but now we are completing the puzzle by providing the medical support through the pelvic plain and endometriosis clinics so that women can then get the specialist and allied health support that they need. Susan, would you like to add to that? And Jason might like to say …
DR SUSAN EVANS, PELVIC PAIN FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA: I'd love to. Thank you. I, my name's Dr Susan Evans and we’re from the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia. In May, we were absolutely thrilled as part of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis to receive $5 million to extend our schools program. We help students work out whether their pain is normal, the things they can do themselves, how to live a life of less pain, and where to go for help. It's actually a completely new approach to reducing that time to diagnosis and helping girls and other students stay at school and with a life with less pain. So we are incredibly grateful for the support we've had and we are rolling out in all states that will collaborate with us.
PROFESSOR JASON ABBOTT, SCHOOL OF WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH: I’m Professor Jason Abbott, as you've heard many times today, and I think that the question is a really good one. About 20 years ago, when I first started in the area of endometriosis, the time to diagnosis was 12 years. We’ve halved that time, and we've halved that time through a number of initiatives, and the clinical guidelines that were put out through the European Society for Reproductive Health was a really important initiative in getting that, because it started people talking. We've released the Australian guidelines just last year - really scientifically sound, evidence-based guidelines, and the announcement today that we get to continuously update that is going to improve exactly what we're talking about, reducing that time to diagnosis. Susan's fantastic work with the PPEP program and PPFA means that we're talking to younger Australians, and that's a key and critical thing too. Having those conversations means we start rolling back the time to getting an earlier diagnosis. And of course, the more we invest in research, and we've spoken so much just about what happens with genetic screening. We may be in the process in future to be a world leader at genetic screening for endometriosis.
The UK Parliamentary Inquiry set a goal of one year to time to diagnosis in 2020, an absolutely amazing and fairly lofty goal. But I do think that we could get there, and this pack today does an enormous amount to roll forward those programs in Australia to make sure that we are at the forefront of endometriosis research, development and patient care. And we've had some brilliant news today about immediate care for all of those girls, those women and the gender diverse community who are suffering with endometriosis today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, that was perfect timing.
MS NICOLLE FLINT MP, MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: I just, yes, I just finally say, I just want to actually say a huge thank you to all of our media here today, and again to to Scott and, the PM, and Mrs Morrison, Jenny Morrison. The more people who share their stories, the more people in high-profile roles, it's the reason why I was extremely public about the, I’ve spoken in Parliament a number of times. I told my story to the press when I was diagnosed - and I was, could not have been more shocked when I was - it’s the more that we all talk about the symptoms, the more we discuss share experiences, which is why the mentoring program’s important, why the information and awareness, you know, the $1.4 million for the endo digital platform, things like these spreads the information. It’s absolutely critical. This will empower women, girls, families to get the information that they need to get the help that they need. And I could not be more proud of what our Government has done.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Nicolle. Questions.
JOURNALIST: I’ve got a question on another matter.
PRIME MINISTER: No, we’ll just stay with endo and [inaudible] first.
JOURNALIST: Can you imagine just what your life would be like if Jenny wasn't able to access that surgery that she had when she was 26?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, two parts to that. A, the endometriosis wouldn’t have been as advanced as it was when she had the surgery, and for blokes who are trying to understand what this is, I remember when I saw the image, image of the scan of when Jenny went to have her surgery, and this was after 10 [inaudible] failed IVF. It's it's like someone has basically ingested a tub of superglue and everything inside is just stuck together. And when you see it, it is, and I just looked at the surgeon, an amazing surgeon, Dr Alan Lam, and I said, “Mate, how are you going to clean that up?” And he said, “Very, very carefully.” And he did. And it was, it was a very invasive surgery and the skills of our surgeons, I’m in constant awe, and particularly Dr Lam.
But of course, yes, because the surgery, the endometriosis wouldn't have progressed as much as it had. But, in addition to that, the the opportunity to catch it at that time, you know, could have meant a very different path. But I I go back earlier to the very point that Nic was making. I mean, Jenny just felt that, you know, oh oh my, it's just more painful for me and, you know, other, my friends, you know, they take a Panadol or something. And it's it's unpleasant, but I there, there must be something wrong with me or something like that, and I just have to deal with it. And and if she understood and knew at the time, if there'd been greater awareness at the time, then Jenny’s life could have been very, very different. You know, we’re not, we're blessed. We’re amazingly blessed, we’re the first to tell you that. But yeah, no doubt it would change and it will change now the lives of one in nine Australian women in the future.
JOURNALIST: Your personal experience has obviously influenced your decision to put funding into this cause. But but exactly what else, I mean, obviously you're not doing this for personal reasons. What else, you know, has influenced you here, really pushed you? … Who else?
PRIME MINISTER: As as Nic said, Nic and Gai and Nola Marino, and Julian Simonds, he sent me a message …
MS NICOLLE FLINT MP, MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: Yeah, we’ve got a lot of colleagues.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, a lot of colleagues. I mean, people who are elected to Parliament are like everybody else - they have their life stories and their life experiences, and there's more awareness of these things. I mean, you put 150 people in a room - you know, one in nine women for a start - and that's going to identify. But the work that is done by our Parliamentarians, particularly in these health areas, I think is extraordinary. And this is where Greg Hunt has been, I think, a tremendous Health Minister, because Greg’s ear has always leaned in to these, and it goes back to SMA. You've got advocates who are standing here, and I don’t mean advocates, I don't think I've ever seen any of you holding a placard in front of me. But you’ve spoken and Ministers have listened, and Members of Parliament have listened. And I can tell you that is the most effective way to get the message across. And I'm really glad Jenny said get yourself down to that meeting room and listen to those stories about SMA.
There are so many of these conditions and no politician can know about every single one and there are more. I could stand here and tell you stories about cystic fibrosis as well and many others, and Greg as well. But listening, trying to understand it and then how you can deliver the outcome. And so between Gai and Nic who sort of carry and work with the advocates to channel their priorities even in this package, trying to get the right balance of the things you need to do. That's that's Parliament and Government working at its best.
JOURNALIST: Questions on something else?
PRIME MINISTER: Before we move to others, yes.
JOURNALIST: I just want to ask one question about the sort of clinical pathway. So if for girls that go to the GP, how will she then be ending, able to end up at one of the clinics? What's the, is there a sort of pathway that’s likely to happen or a referral?
PRIME MINISTER: Susan, did you want to speak to that?
DR SUSAN EVANS, PELVIC PAIN FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA: I'd love to.
JOURNALIST: So we can give the audience a bit of an idea of how it works.
DR SUSAN EVANS, PELVIC PAIN FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA: Yes, with our PPEP Talk program, there's a whole range of different experience with teens. Not all pain necessarily needs everything. So we're looking all the way at locking, at unlocking all the places that might hinder her experience. So education all the way - educating general practitioners, educating health practitioners, making more information awareness, working in schools, working with community groups - all means that things get managed early and more effectively. I think the the pelvic pain clinics are just fantastic. They won’t, not everyone will need to go to one of these pelvic pain clinics. It will be for the most severe cases that need a lot of different things. But this whole community, the Australian Coalition for Endometriosis, everybody, we're all working on making that journey as smooth as possible. Everywhere we see a roadblock that could be tricky for somebody, we're working on reducing that roadblock for them, so that we can individualise care for each person that has those problems.
PRIME MINISTER: Terrific. Well, I'm going to thank everyone for being here, and then we, Nic, Nicolle and I can take other questions. So thank you all very much. And can I particularly thank you Rachael for coming and sharing your story with us so bravely. And we remember Mackenzie, and to you Jon and the rest of the family, but particularly to young Izaac, it's tremendous to see him here, there he is, looking great, he’s awake. Hey, hey Izaac. That’s that’s hope right there. So thank you very much for joining us today and for your tremendous support for this wonderful set of initiatives. Thank you.
Happy to take questions on other matters.
JOURNALIST: China has influenced, increased, rather, its influence in the Pacific. If Australia wants to be a leader in the region, should we have done more?
PRIME MINISTER: Pardon?
JOURNALIST: If Australia wants to be a leader in the region, should we have done more?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia is a leader in the Pacific region, in our Pacific family. Our Government has increased, first of all, the overseas development assistance to the Pacific by 50 per cent. We increased it from around $1.12 [inaudible] up to $1.7 billion, and this was part of our Pacific Step-up program. And what we did is meld that with our maritime security program, providing patrol boats into the Pacific so they can protect them, support their own ocean territories. We have done it through, we are the single largest provider of development assistance in the Pacific - daylight second, daylight third. And through the course of the pandemic, in particular, that has been our first and primary focus beyond our own shores.
And so whether it be Frank Bainimarama, I would speak to Pacific leaders or be in text contact with leaders almost every day, and certainly every week, and we are constantly in discussions about the many challenges they face, whether it's the volcanic explosion in Tonga recently, whether it was the measles epidemic that we saw up in Samoa, where we sent in our medical terms, whether it has been the many challenges we face up in Papua New Guinea and even now, the training bases for emergency service operators and those involved in peacekeeping missions up there near [inaudible], the Blackrock facility we put in in Fiji, the Pacific Finance Initiative, $1.5 billion - we have led in the Pacific.
But I think events that you've seen most recently, I think, only highlight the constant pressure and the constant constant push that is coming into into the region from interests that are not aligned with Australia’s and not aligned with those of the Pacific more broadly. I mean, we completed a 2017 bilateral security treaty for the first time back in 2017 with the Solomons. We deployed more than 200 AFP, Defence and DFAT personnel in the Solomons, and not for the first time, not for the first time. Whenever, whenever there is a crisis or an issue to be dealt with in the Pacific region, the first call that's made is to Australia because they trust us to be able to come and support them and do it in a way which is respectful of their culture, respectful of their history. And they see Australia as family, as they do New Zealand. And we work very closely, Prime Minister Ardern and I, in aligning our Pacific engagement with the region, and the rest of the world knows that. The rest of the world, our partners and their allies, understand that it’s Australia, working together with New Zealand, understand what's happening in the Pacific.
Now, there are others, there are others who may seek to pretend to influence and to seek to get some sort of foothold in the region. And we're very conscious of that and that's why we've been doing that work. We are not completely immune from the risks of that, but whether it's investing in telecommunications infrastructure or the electrification of Papua New Guinea itself, in partnership with New Zealand and the United States and Japan, when we sit around the Quad table with India and Japan and the United States, these are the issues we talk about in supporting the Pacific, as well as in Southeast Asia. So I think these most recent developments and the uncertainty and instability in the Solomons just highlights once again why it has been so important that we leaned in as carefully as we have. No Government has ever invested as heavily and consistently and recognise our responsibility in the Pacific more than our Government.
JOURNALIST: Will there be any response from Australia to this draft security pact with China?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will see how this progresses. I mean, one of the ways you deal with your Pacific family is you deal with it as family. You talk about these issues as family. I mean, one of the first places I went after the re-election back in 2019, is Jenny and I went to the Solomon Islands. That's the first place we went, to the Solomon Islands, and I did that intentionally because I wanted to send a very clear message about where Australia saw its first priorities beyond our own shores. And that was to stand by our family in the Pacific to assure them of our continuing support. So when Fiji needed vaccines, who did they call? Australia. When they were called by another country seeking to have influence in the region, they said, “We're good, Australia’s got us covered.”
JOURNALIST: So have you contacted your representatives in the Solomon Islands directly, or are you leaving it up to diplomatic channels at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: Manasseh Sogavare and I have had many conversations over the years.
JOURNALIST: But with, in the last 24 hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Not in the last 24 hours, and there’s dialogue that’s taking place there. But we we deal with these issues and we work them through. As you know, we have Australian Federal Police in Solomon Islands right now, guaranteeing the peace and security of the Solomon Islands right now. And the reason we're there is because Manasseh called me and asked me and said, “Scott, can you please send us support to ensure we can stabilise the situation here in the Solomon Islands?” I've I've visited their constabulary. I've thanked them for the tremendous work that they've done in Honiara. And you know, it’s a very good partnership.
JOURNALIST: Given that Australia's Ambassador met with the Solomons PM just before this deal, or this draft, was announced, was Australia blindsided by this deal?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: No? And do you worry that a naval base there would give China the capacity to block shipping routes from Asia through the Pacific to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: One of the many reasons we’re so active in the region is that so we can ensure a free and open Pacific. Same reason we are so active in the Indo-Pacific region more broadly, up through South Asia, the Indian Ocean, up through the South China Sea, North China Sea, is to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. Now there is, we share our Pacific family values. We share culture, the principles of democracy and freedom. And these are things that are very important to the Pacific Islander peoples. And that's why they can trust and know that we are their family partner.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, as we speak, there is a group of schoolchildren gathered outside Kirribilli House for the School Strike 4 Climate. What is your message to these children and should they be at school today?
PRIME MINISTER: My message to them is, as a Government we've taken on the challenge of climate change seriously. Australia has reduced its emissions by around 20 per cent. And I think it's important as young people are growing up and have an understandable keen interest in this issue, because it affects their futures. But I would encourage them to understand that Australia, contrary to what they might be being told by many people with other agendas, Australia is reducing its emissions by around 20 per cent. They probably mightn’t know that Australia has reduced its emissions by more than New Zealand, by more than Canada, by more than the United States, by more than Japan, by more than many countries in Europe. They might not know that, because they probably ever, only ever been told that Australia isn't doing these things, but the opposite is true. What is true is that as a country we're taking these issues very seriously, and we're doing things about it that actually reduce emissions. Now and it's not just about reducing emissions, because you've got to deal with the built-up existing impact of climate change. And so the impacts of weather events and these things are the product of things that have been happening for decades, not for a couple of years, for decades and decades and decades. And so we have to build up our resilience and adaptation, and that is exactly what this Government has been doing. It's not about just reducing emissions - that's incredibly important - but it's also about boosting our resilience. That's why we build dams and our adaptation. That's why we do fuel management in bushfire areas because we know of the climate impacts of what's going on.
As I said a few weeks ago, Australia is a harder country to live in now because of these changes, but those changes haven't been caused by a couple of years or even a couple of, ten years. It's going back over many decades. And so how we live with that over the next 20 years, that's why we invest in those areas. But it’s not just that. They may care to look and see what we're doing with recycling to keep plastics out of our ocean and how we're looking to conserve water. And the the bush-keeping and river-keeping initiatives that we're doing, and I encourage them, by all means express your view. It's a great democracy and I have no issue with that. But the learning gets done in schools and the learning gets done in understanding the many other facts that I think are very important to this debate. So we will continue on. We've committed to net zero by 2050 with a $21 billion plan, which is being rolled out now, developing new energy technologies and, importantly, getting them into industry into commerce, and not just in Australia.
Let me finish on this point on this question. It's not enough for Australia just to reduce our emissions by 20 per cent, as we already have done. It's not enough for Australia to achieve net zero by 2050. The whole world has to. And so if emissions are continuing to rise, be it in China or in Indonesia or Vietnam or South America, all these places, well, the world continues to get hotter. And so the solution, we believe, is technology that those countries can embrace at a cost that enables their countries to continue to develop and give their citizens jobs. You know, dealing with climate change is not just a advanced economies challenge, it is a global challenge. And so that's why we've developed partnerships with India. I was just speaking with the Prime Minister Modi about this very issue just last week, about how we can work together to help them transform their energy needs and how they’re acquitted over the next 20, 30 years.
See these countries want to go down that path, but we have to give them the tools and the technology to achieve it. If you believe in climate action, trying to ensure that our technologists can develop hydrogen, which can be put in place in Indonesia and India and other parts, and China and other parts of the world, that is actually climate action. So I respect their voice, I respect their opportunity to raise their voices. But I would encourage them to look at these many other issues because if you want to see climate action undertaken, then they’re the practical things that you need to do, and our Government is focused on the practical things, just like we've been focused very much here today on the practical issues of women's health and of of families looking to become families, as people go along that journey. And I want to thank everyone again for being here with us today. Thank you.
Remarks, Opening of Macquarie Telecom Data Centre - Macquarie Park, NSW
25 March 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Can I acknowledge also any veterans, who are with us today and indeed, members of the defence forces who may even be here, and say thank you for that incredible service you do to your country. Peter James, Chairman of Macquarie Telecom and its founders David and Aiden, two brothers, who clearly must have got on when they were younger and still working out alright now. And they've been an incredible partnership. And I've known David for many, many years, probably 20 years now and can I tell you it's a great delight to be here because there have been many businesses that have come and gone. We were just chatting about that on the stairs on the way down. But Macquarie has remained because they know what they do, they do it incredibly well. They seek to do it better than anyone else, and I think they achieve that. And in addition to that, they keep looking forward about how to deal with each of the challenges. So to Aiden and David, thank you so much for your success because we're all beneficiaries of it. To Councillor Jordan Lane, Mayor of the City of Ryde, to Damien and Victor, Victor like me, and Damien, we're tenants here as well, with a few people in between us and Macquarie and how that's managed. And of course, to JA who was here, John Alexander the Member for Bennelong, who has worked so hard and I've been up in this precinct with John on many occasions, there he is, being all very quiet and reclining back there. But John's passion for this whole precinct, from the very day he became elected and over his period that he served in the parliament has never wavered. He's he's always got it, whether we've been with the med-tech firms or the telco firms, or the data firms or all the various different businesses that go right across this dynamic electorate of Bennelong. John has been there as a cheer squad, an enabler, a supporter, a problem-solver, and he's done a tremendous job and I'm sort of pleased I'm here, it won't be too long before we'll have an election, of course, this year due in the middle of May. But to be here with John today in his community with people he's worked with and to say to you John, thank you. Thank you. Can you give John a round of applause.
John will be the first to tell you, we've gone for the Apres. We've gone for the new model, in his usual, self-deprecating way and I know he'll agree, because Simon Kennedy is our Liberal candidate for Bennelong and he joins me here, having been preselected less than 48 hours ago, but knowing Simon before he has come into this role, and he has a great reputation and record as a great champion of government services that meet the needs of citizens but he has an incredible background in the private sector and a real problem solver for his many clients over a long period of time, and now he gets to do it for the people of Australia, but in particular the people of Bennelong if he can be successful, which I believe he will. Can I echo what others have said. And of course, welcoming all the staff at Macquarie and people [inaudible] and the clients and others who will join us here today. Can I recognise that yes, I'm coming to you from the cloud today. Those of you who are watching from other places, a real place, a real place, you'll be pleased to know that all the cyber defences don't involve people wearing suits of armour, outside of the various lines and rows of computers, all done by incredibly savvy technicians and cyber security professionals who I had the great pleasure to meet before coming in here. Quite a number of them from the Shire, which I was pleased to see as well.
Coming out of great universities, whether it's the Macquarie or University of Wollongong. I think that's one of the great virtues of where we are today, and one of the reasons why investments like this are made in Australia. Because of the amazing people that we're training and bringing into our companies and our organisations, that is enabling infrastructure such as this, private infrastructure such as this, to be built for it to be taken to boards for approval and they can go, 'yes, I can see that, we can make that happen, we will turn a dollar, it will pay for itself.' And there is, I think, a great set of confidence. It's great to be here today to open something that, I'm sure my parliamentary colleagues would agree with, that we didn't put a cent into. They paid for it all themselves and I say that as a compliment, but I think the Tudehope brothers will be first to say that it didn't happen without a government context. And what we sought to do as a Government is provide the environment for the success of our data and digital businesses. The same is a true statement in the New South Wales Government, providing the environment where companies will confidently invest in building this infrastructure, several hundred million dollars, of investing their hard earned and putting it all on the line. And they can do that in the context of a federal government and the state government here in New South Wales, where they can get on and they can do the business. It's Australian-owned, it's made right here. And can I tell you, particularly in a more troubled world, especially from a data security point of view, where supply chains are frankly more about trust now than they even are about efficiency or cost. And we see that in the most terrible events unfolding, whether it's in Ukraine, or the stresses that have been placed on our own country here in the Indo-Pacific when it comes to your data security. You've got to be dealing with someone you trust. And so words like sovereign really means something. Secure really means something. And for, whether it's a government client – such in our case, or the New South Wales Government's case, or it is a financial institution, or any company that needs to ensure that its data security, they can assure their clients and those who they work with. I mean, you're all part of a trusted chain here. You've all made a promise to a customer somewhere in this business that you will be looking after their data. You will be looking after their business and their services that they depend on from you. And you make a promise, and when you come here and you invest here, and you put your equipment here as we have done, then you know you can keep that promise. This is what this business is all about.
Australia is one of the most trusted and certified in the areas David alluded to, when it comes to the data industry. A highly qualified team of trained engineers here, up to 40, up to 50 megawatts of data storage capability. And this is all helping us as a country to help achieve our goal of being a top 10 digital economy by 2030. We have a five-point plan to grow our economy, and this is one of those points in that plan. The fourth point in that plan is about ensuring that we are enabling the investment, certainly the technology, the infrastructure and also the skills that drive all of that as well. These all come together because during the pandemic, I think we learnt pretty quick that how much we were relying on centres just like this and to have the capability and the capacity of that area quickly moved, I think, businesses and consumers and others forward about five to eight years in space of about two months. And so there's a much deeper understanding about what is required of facilities like this and the regulatory environment in which they operate.
And so whether it's our regulatory systems or investments we make ourselves, we need to be constantly confident about being able to address the cyber challenges we face. Espionage, disinformation, cyber-attacks, foreign interference, economic coercion. There is a lot of malignant activity out there that we need to address together, and this is all increasing and the incidents are increasing and to see the reports downstairs of what was being coming through in real time didn't surprise me at all. And so we need to continue to lift our game. Just earlier this week the Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, announced the opening of a new AFP led centre in cyber-crime. Those investments have meant we've been able to identify more threats, destruct more foreign cyber criminals and they're not just state based criminals by the way, they're often criminal based actors, we've dealt with these issues and I'm sure it’s been same in New South Wales, they’re often criminal based actors, they're opportunistic actors, they're mischievous actors. There's a whole range of threats that can come our way. And so these activities that we're engaged in only adds to that, it only adds to that. It's estimated that increased digitalisation could add some $315 billion to our economy and create 250,000 new jobs in the near future. And that future is already a reality right here with what we're opening today. And so it's why our digital economy strategy, we're looking to have an ecosystem that lists the literacy skills in digital issues in the workforce, it grows the R&D investment in areas like AI and quantum. And on that, I note that the recent AUKUS arrangement agreement, that we were able to secure with the United States and the United Kingdom, something that no one thought would be possible, particularly, everyone's aware of the pointy end of this being around nuclear propelled submarines. But actually, AUKUS was about more than that and AI and quantum are actually specifically as part of that arrangement. And all three of us wanted it in there because we knew how important that would be to Australia's future security. But whether it's the engineers, the scientists, the technologists. Ensuring that they're coming through the system, the barriers to innovation, the barriers to the approval process for the facilities like this in the future. We've invested some $2 billion already in our digital economy strategy, and it's really, really pleasing to come here today and see that strategy being reality, very much before our own eyes. So to David and Aiden and everyone who has played a part in bringing IC3E to life, I want to thank you very much. The builders, the architects, the engineers, the tradespeople, the whole team. I think you can be very proud of what you've been able to achieve here and the role that this will play in Australia's economic plan in the future and the prosperity that will come. Thank you for keeping us at the leading edge at the front of the pack. Thank you very much.