Subject:
Western Corridor Water Recycling Project; Toowoomba Bypass; Iraq; workplace reform
E&OE...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mr Turnbull and I are here to announce that after a lengthy discussion of Cabinet today the Federal Government will contribute $408 million to the Western Corridor Water Recycling Project in south east Queensland. This represents the largest water recycling project anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere and it also represents the largest single payment out of the Government's National Water Fund which I established some two years ago. The payment is made on the express understanding confirmed to me in writing by Mr Beattie on the 29th of January when he lodged his full application for the amount of $408 million that there will be no further requests made of the Commonwealth by the Queensland Government in relation to this project. As I indicated on radio this morning, we have been in lengthy discussion with the Queensland Government, that is particularly Mr Turnbull, seeking further information and what we've decided is that we will announce our commitment to the project but require the full publication of financial details and information relating to the project by the Queensland Government within the next 30 days as a condition of the grants by the Commonwealth. The other condition that we attach to the payment is that the interests of farmers in the Lockyer Valley who were responsible for I guess the original initiation of this project, that they're interests and needs should be properly accommodated. It does represent a huge financial commitment by the Commonwealth in an area which traditionally has been the responsibility of the states, but it's very apparent to me, as it is to all Queenslanders, that there is a chronic water problem in south east Queensland, and it's important that the Commonwealth play its part in contributing. And the $408 million is the stated half cost of the project and it's on that basis that the Commonwealth has made this commitment. I want the project to go ahead, I want it to be a success, I want the Federal Government to play its part in ensuring that the water needs of people in this part of Australia are properly met. We have massive water problems all around the country. There is no point in going into the reasons for them. The important thing is to look forward and to find a way forward. Every capital city has a different problem and the responses are different, depending on where you are in Australia. Clearly recycling is one of the big ways of responding. I have supported recycling for some time and in that sense Mr Beattie and I have been on the same page in regard to the methodology of dealing with these problems and are subject to the conditions that I have outlined. The Commonwealth will make available the $408 million and it is ready to be paid to the Queensland authorities as soon as the conditions that I've stipulated are met.
JOURNALIST:
Did you feel under pressure Prime Minister to agree to this because the Opposition had committed money?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, we have been talking about it now for some weeks. But bear in mind Mr Beattie only came good with the final application on the 29th of January and the National Water Commission has had a look at it, Mr Turnbull has been in discussion with the Deputy Premier and I think it's fair to say this is the sort of project that you would want to support. But we clearly want to be satisfied that given the large amount of money that the Queensland Government makes available; and I am quite serious about that condition, that Queensland makes publicly available all the relevant financials regarding the project because you are dealing with taxpayers money and we're entitled to full transparency.
JOURNALIST:
The Toowoomba Bypass as described in the paper this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes?
JOURNALIST:
Is that a goer and in which case when?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I read something about it. I don't have any announcement to make about that.
JOURNALIST:
Back on water, are you confident, with people in Brisbane now living on level five restrictions, in your discussions with the Beattie Government that this pipeline is going to be part of the longer term solution for Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mr Turnbull may want to add something to what I have got to say because he's the ministerial expert. This is part of the solution. There's a long history to the water shortages now being suffered in Queensland and by people all around the country, and it does represent some very significant failures by state governments over a long period of time. But that's the past. Obviously decisions taken not to build dams in the past has played a major role and we all know who was involved in those decisions. But in a sense that is in the past, that's not going to get anybody off level five restrictions, it's not going to get anybody any greater assurance, the only thing that can give people greater assurance of security in the future is to actually get on with doing things that are going to guarantee people's water supplies. And I strongly favour recycling, I think it's a very effective way of dealing with the problem. I've long supported the view that we have to go forward on recycling and that is one of the major reasons why we support this project.
JOURNALIST:
You have been waiting for the Beattie Government to provide you with the details and you were waiting to make a commitment until you got that, why have you changed....
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we think the best way to hurry them up is to make the commitment in principle and require them within 30 days to publish the financials. If they don't provide that information, well they'll be the people who are torpedoing our provision of the extra money. I mean we are interested in helping the people of south east Queensland and the best way to help them is to say right, we'll give the money to this project on condition that the Queensland Government make all the financial details available, in a transparent fashion, and make them available publicly. And I'm asking Mr Beattie to do that and if he doesn't do so within 30 days, well he puts at risk a receipt of $408 million. I'm sure the financial details will be made available within the 30 days.
MINISTER TURNBULL:
I might just add to that, that we would have made a grant for this project some time earlier had it not been that late last year the amount requested was more than doubled. The original application was for $184 million and then in November larger applications foreshadowed, then finally an application 408 was made at the end of January - so naturally that required further consideration. So that really is the history of the project. There has been financial information given, but it has not been as complete, as comprehensive as one would expect, but having regard to the very grave need in south east Queensland, we felt that we should make this commitment available, make it publicly available so that people could see that we were committing a substantial amount to this very important project. It is a very good project. This will be the largest recycling project in the southern hemisphere. It will produce 90 billion litres a year of additional water. So it's really significant by any test and it's a very commendable project. But there does need to be more transparency about the costs, both of construction and of operation, and I'm sure that in the light of our announcement today that will be made available.
JOURNALIST:
So it has nothing to do with attracting votes in Queensland?
MINISTER TURNBULL:
Well this is a commitment that the Prime Minister made several years ago in the $2 billion Australian Government Water Fund and we have been committing money to projects right around Australia, sustainable water projects right around Australia. This is the largest single commitment, but then this is the largest recycled water project ever undertaken in Australia.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, are you coming to Brisbane dawn service tomorrow, sir?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm attending a service at Greenslopes Hospital at 5.30am, which is a major service, I understand organised by the RSL, and I'm going to that, and then after that I'll be going to Canberra to attend the national service at the War Memorial.
JOURNALIST:
Back on water, can the people of Queensland expect anything further in the run up to the election or this commitment basically it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is it as far as this project is concerned because amongst other things Mr Beattie has said he won't make any further requests of us in relation to this project, and he's a man of his word on these things, and I'm sure that he won't make any further requests in relation to this project. As to other projects in Queensland, well I'm not ruling anything in or anything out, it will depend on the merits of individual proposals. But Queensland now has certainly received a decent chunk of the National Water Fund and I think Queenslanders can feel that they've been more than fairly treated in relation to this particular fund. Could I just say, you may want to ask other questions about water, but could I just briefly say something about the incident in Iraq, involving Australian soldiers. It's a reminder of just how dangerous this work is, it's a reminder that all of our men and women serving overseas, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing things that are inherently dangerous. We're grateful that the consequences of this attack were not greater. It's a reminder again of the extraordinary professionalism of our soldiers, the durability and the protective quality of the equipment they use, but also most importantly a reminder that it's very dangerous and anybody who imagines that they are not performing very important work, that involves a great deal of ongoing danger, are mistaken and I send my good wishes to the soldiers involved. Those that have been injured, I wish them a very quick recovery and I can certainly understand how their next of kin will be feeling both a sense of concern but also a sense of relief.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what is your reaction to the inflation figure today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's a super figure, 0.1 of 1% and according to the Reserve Bank's measure, an underlying rate of half of 1%. It puts the inflation rate well within the target band of the Reserve Bank, it's very good news, it's very good news for the Australian economy, it's very good news for Australians and it's a reminder that we now have a wage fixation system which is not exerting upward pressure on inflation and therefore upward pressure on interest rates and that if we adopt Mr Rudd's wage fixation system, a centralised system, we'll go back to those bad old days when high wages paid in industries that could afford them, flow through the whole economy, put upward pressure on wages, that pushes up inflation and that in turn pushes up interest rates. So if you want low inflation and low interest rates to go on, don't embrace Mr Rudd's industrial relations policy.
JOURNALIST:
Isn't this figure related to the Aussie dollar performing well and also fruit and vegetable prices?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there are a range of things, there always are, but the underlying message is that wages are not misbehaving. In other words, those firms that can afford high wages are paying them, and those firms that can afford moderate wages are paying them. Under the system Mr Rudd wants, that will all go out the door, and if you get paid high wages in the mining industry, that will flow through to the rest of the economy which will push up inflation. So the message out of this is don't risk our low inflation by adopting Mr Rudd's industrial relations policy.
JOURNALIST:
Might it be a one off though because this is related to the fall in food prices, particularly bananas and we've had predictions of an increase in food prices with the drought measures?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can't predict what will come out of the drought but it's fairer to say that what happened last year was more of a one off than this. I think this sees a return to normalcy. As to what might happen if we don't get rain, we all have to wait and see, but this is undoubtedly a very good outcome and it does reflect that we are a low inflation country and it's very good news for Australians.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard have you been briefed any more about the IR decision on the Priceline employee?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I have, I've received some more information, and it throws a rather different light, different complexion on the story that appeared this morning. I have been told that this company had lost $17 million in 2006. I was told that as a result of that there was an extensive re-structuring which involved some 32 positions disappearing. I am told that the industrial relations commission rejected the claim made by the person involved that the redundancy was a sham redundancy and that the industrial relations commission found that it was a valid redundancy. It's always been the law under Labor and under Liberal, that if a firm is losing money then genuine redundancies often follow and that there's nothing unlawful about that, and I've found that the claim made that this man was dismissed and others were dismissed purely for the purpose of re-employing people at lower wages was not correct.
[ends]