Subject:
Commonwealth disability assistance package; National Plan for Water Security; indigenous emergency response
E&OE...
PRIME MINISTER:
Could I just emphasise that what I've announced today, the Minister and I have announced today, the $1.8 billion, is over and above the money that the Commonwealth is now providing and will continue to provide subject to an appropriate indexation increase under the disability support arrangements with the states. This is over and above, it doesn't in any way replace any of that money so it represents an additional injection of $1.8 billion into the disability sector.
JOURNALIST:
Will you negotiate a new disabilities agreement before the election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we're happy to continue talking to the states but this program is going to be implemented immediately because this program involves us bypassing the states and dealing directly with people. I mean, the $1000 payment naturally is something that the Commonwealth does without reference to the states and we're going to deal for the first time with disability groups in the area of accommodation. Now this has historically been the responsibility of the states and without labouring the point we're just asking the states, given that we have picked up a lot of their historic responsibility, we're asking them to put their extra money into the areas that we can't cover in accommodation. And there is still a lot of unmet need in accommodation, this is not going to cover everything, but it's going to cover the most necessitous areas with older carers with middle aged children who they've been looking after for years, many of them for decades; some of the of them 30 years, 40 years and they're now getting older and they worry that when they die nobody will be there and there'll be nothing to look after their children. Now these are the most heartbreaking cases you can find anywhere in the country and they are the people that will get priority under this new program.
JOURNALIST:
The Census has shown a nation that's changing with prosperity. This is one of the groups of society that has been left behind?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I think there's no doubt that they have been and that's why we are, putting aside the fact that the area we're moving into is really a state responsibility...you see, when you get into a situation like this what parents say to me is they don't care whose responsibility it is, they just want something done and this applies in many areas and people want outcomes. They're not particularly interested in esoteric debates about who's responsible. They just want outcomes and this is an area where there's a crying need for more money and even though it may be under the arrangement concluded way back in the Keating years it may be something that the states have responsibility for, we're going to move in and provide help in the most needy areas but we still want the states to put more resources into the other areas where we won't be able to reach.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, have you had the opportunity to wish Tony Blair well?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I rang Mr Blair yesterday and I in fact spoke to him just before he went to the House of Commons for his last Question Time and I did wish him well. I think Tony Blair has been a great Prime Minister. Relations between him and me have been very close. We may technically belong to different sides of politics but on most world issues in the last decade his views and mine have been very similar. He's been an articulate proponent of the view that Islamic extremism and terrorism represents an enduring threat to our way of life and I'm glad that he has a post prime ministerial role. I congratulate Gordon Brown, I know him well, not as well as Tony Blair but I do know him well. I'm sure that relations between him and me will be very cordial. We'll work together and I look forward to talking to him sometime in the next few weeks.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, climate experts in the United States this morning are saying that El Nino has ended and the drought should break soon.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I hope they're right. We can all say hallelujah, we hope they're right but let's wait and see. We've had a lot of rain, not all of it in the right places and we still have to keep our fingers crossed that we can get more water into the Murray-Darling Basin. Right at the moment there's still not enough water in that basin river system to supply all the needs but let's hope that that expert is spot on because it will be of enormous relief, but I do hope we don't forget about the need for future water proofing of this country. There will be a great tendency now that we've had a lot of rain and if, if, the drought breaks there'll be a great tendency for people to say well we don't have to worry about this, we don't have to worry about that. That would be a huge mistake because just as in the middle of the drought I said it will eventually rain again, and I say there'll eventually be another drought. This is a consistent weather pattern of our country, there's nothing new about his weather pattern. This drought has been more severe than most, the most severe in 100 years but we really mustn't slacken. We must continue to water proof our country as best we can.
JOURNALIST:
If the drought does break how long before you would address the drought assistance package? How long before you would change that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there are certain commitments and we will honour all of those commitments. We're not going to arbitrarily pull assistance away. You grant Exceptional Circumstances for a period of time according to certain criteria and I want to assure farmers that we're not going to arbitrarily take away any assistance because it takes a while to recover and a lot of people have been doing it very tough so I want to assure the farmers of Australia that if and as the drought breaks, and I stress both of those preconditions, there won't be any abrupt arbitrary termination of assistance. There are certain rules and certain periods of time that apply to that and we will see that those circumstances and periods of time are fully honoured. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just quickly, on the indigenous plan, is there a time frame for when legislation would be introduced?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mr Brough will correct me if I'm wrong because he's in charge of the legislation but we will be introducing the legislation as soon as it's ready and we hope it will be ready within the next few weeks. Mal, how are we going?
BROUGH:
That's about right. The draftsmen are underway, it is a very complex task. We meet with the Chief Minister this afternoon and part of that is to, and I put to their three ministers earlier in the week, I think it was Monday, I've lost track of the days at the moment, that to say well is the NT prepared to legislate the liquor licensing regime that we have outlined, absolutely in full. If they are, that will take some of the burden off us and allow us to get it done quicker and the sooner we get it done the sooner we can make the changes that are necessary for these kids to have a better life.
JOURNALIST:
So you anticipate in the next couple of weeks?
BROUGH:
Not two weeks, it's more like three weeks would be the earliest that I would anticipate that they'd have that work completed.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[Ends]