PM: It's good to be here at Beenleigh State High School and with Brett Raguse the local member. And it's been good talking to the principal and the teachers and some of the students here at Beenleigh State High as well.
What we've been talking about is school retention. And how do you best make sure that our young people are encouraged to stay on to year 12 equivalent.
Now, around Australia right now we have as an average retention rate through to year 12 something like about 75 per cent.
The Government has committed to raising that to 90 per cent by the year 2020.
And the reason is year 12 equivalent retention at school is the best predictor of a young person's life opportunities. The best predictor of their employment opportunities. The best predictor of how their subsequent educational opportunities and training opportunities unfold as well.
So that's the challenge.
And what we've seen here are very practical examples of what the teachers are doing cooperatively with the kids here to encourage a lift in year 12 retention.
Things like the homework club. Things like active engagement with traineeships and apprenticeships. Things like active engagement with the local PCYC. Things like active engagement with one-on-one work with some of the kids who might be finding basic reading and writing and numeracy tasks a little bit tough.
The thing is every school is different. All the challenges are different. And every young person brings their own unique story to the school.
Our challenge as a Government is not simply to say, ‘here is a target, go off and meet it'. Our challenge as a Government is to partner with schools like this one and say, ‘here is a helping hand'.
A couple of weeks ago at the National Press Club I gave a speech on Labor's education revolution. I also spoke about the need for a quality revolution, in what we do in producing the best education outcomes possible for our young people.
And part of that lies in what do we do to properly resource teachers at schools such as Beenleigh. What do we do also to make sure that schools such as this have proper levels of resourcing. And what do we also do to make sure that we've got proper accountability to the community at large.
So, when it comes to the implementation of Labor's quality education revolution, it is schools facing challenges like those at Beenleigh where we want to be in the field, in the marketplace, providing extra resources.
For example, if you look at these homework classes which are operating effectively here, you've got teachers giving up their voluntary time after school a couple of times a week to make sure that kids who need the help are getting it.
What we'd like to do is provide the principal with more resources to do that into the future.
And that's the model of the quality education agenda which Julia Gillard, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education is now negotiating through with the states.
What's the end point? We are serious about an education revolution. The education revolution is not a slogan for this Government, it's our core driving belief because we want to make sure that we boost what we invest in every young person's opportunities for the future, and at the same time, lift the quality of what our schools can produce. And that means providing our schools with more resources.
It's good to be here at Beenleigh, good to see what the kids are doing, and also, it helps us shape the implementation of the quality education agenda to make sure that schools like this get the resources they need to lift their school retention rate even higher into the future.
Over to you, folks.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: We promised prior to the election that we would halve HECS for kids taking maths or science courses at university, and then, halve it again if upon graduation they chose to work in such a field, including in teaching. That programme rolls out next year. It's an expensive program, it's going to cost us $625 million.
It's a lot of money. But if you look around the country, and I haven't spoken to our friends here at Beenleigh on this yet, but there is a real challenge getting enough flow through of high quality maths and science teachers across the school system.
So what do you do about it?
You can either just say ‘woe is me', and that's the end of that. Or, you can provide real incentives for kids to study those courses at university.
I ran into before just a couple of kids who just participated in a science competition at Griffith University where they had to compete against the other schools to assess the particular chemical quality of a particular acid within a particular time. And these kids won, and they're going off to the state finals in October, I seem to remember, and that's great.
One of them was indicating, or suggesting to me, that they wouldn't mind continuing in this area when they get to university. So what can we practically do? If you look at the combined HECS charges which apply to someone doing a maths or science course over four years at university, it is actually quite a large amount of money. So if we can halve that, and then halve it again on the basis that a student can work in that field for a period of five years following graduation, we think that's a practical way to get more of our brightest high school graduates into the field and to keep them.
JOURNALIST: Could you survive on the single pension?
PM: I agree very much with what Wayne has said and what Julia has said that living on the single aged pension is very, very tough, which is why we are committed to its reform.
JOURNALIST: So you couldn't live off it?
PM: I agree with both Wayne and Julia, I think it would be almost impossible to continue to live on the current single aged pension, and that's why for the first time in twelve years we are reforming the basis of the single aged pension in order to provide our seniors with greater security for the future.
JOURNALIST: How far away is an outcome?
PM: Well, remember we've been in Government for nine months, and what I'd say to the Liberals before they jump up and down, as they often do on this, is that the cost of living challenges facing pensioners did not emerge suddenly on the 24th of November 2007. These have been building for a long, long time.
There has been no fundamental attempt at reforming the aged pension system. Which is why prior to the Budget we committed to the Henry Review, and within that the work that is being done by Mr Harmer, and he's due to report in February of next year.
In the meantime, what we've done through the Budget is deliver $7.5 billion worth of additional payments to pensioners, carers and those on the disability support pension, including increasing the utilities allowance for pensioners to $500 a year and to make that permanent. Increasing it from one-hundred-and-something dollars a year to $500 a year and making that permanent.
JOURNALIST: Are you embarrassed by Mr Raguse's comments today that the pension does need to be increased?
PM: He, our position on the pension is that first of all, we have increased the utilities allowance to $500 a year, that didn't happen under the previous government.
Secondly, it is permanent, and that permanent increase hasn't happened under the previous Government and therefore, for the future, whether it's how we approach the base rate of the pension, or how we approach other payments such as the utilities allowance, the Government is examining carefully, how we provide greater financial security for aged pensioners for the long term.
This has been neglected for far too long. Let's have a bit of straight talking about this. Let's just have a bit of straight talking about this. The aged pension has been under stress for many, many years. This Government has been in for nine months and in our first six months we said, this needs to be looked at fundamentally. Here is interim help in terms of the increase in the utilities allowance and this is what we plan to do long term. And that will report in February.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Well obviously in terms of the needs that we face for the pension between now and when the report comes out, you are going to have regular payments of the utilities allowance, which are now paid on a regular quarterly basis.
We promise not just to increase the utilities allowance to a single payment of $100 and something dollars a year. It is now four regular quarterly payments of $125 each payment and one of those, and another one of those payments will flow through soon.
Secondly, there has also been the regular adjustment to the age pension, which flows through in September as well.
Put together the one off pensioner bonus of $500 which was delivered before the 30th of June, secondly the increase in the utilities allowance almost by a factor of four, and thirdly making sure that those payments are made on a quarterly basis - these are designed to provide a helping hand on the way through until we receive the Harmer report's recommendations for the future.
JOURNALIST: So there's no more until that report comes out?
PM: Well as I said, there are these regular adjustments, there are these regular adjustments for the utilities allowance, regular adjustments to the actual pension based on the CPI and one of then again flows through as of the end of September when the, both the single aged pension and the pension for couples will increase by between $13 and $16 each, plus, as I said, the regular adjustment to the utilities allowance.
The reform program that we have got in place is to make sure that we put our aged pensioners on to a secure footing for the future.
JOURNALIST: Brett, you wanted an additional payment. Do you still stand by that?
REGUSE: Look, what the Prime Minister just said, that what we have done as a Government is provide more through this last budget. In fact I didn't actually say we needed a payment right now.
What I did say, that people are feeling the pinch right now and as soon as we can get out reform process in place to review, the first review in 50 years we have done, essentially on taxation and pensions.
So for us, this is a really, really good opportunity. But my comment was that people are feeling the pinch. Every member in this country knows that they are feeling the pinch and we are doing something about it as a Government.
PM: And the good thing about what Brett is doing now is he is out there talking to his community. What I have said to all of our members of parliament. Go out there, talk to your local communities and bring back to us what local pensioner groups are saying.
And secondly, Mr Harmer who is conducting this inquiry himself, is conducting as I understand it forums across the country. And you know what? It is time we just had some plain speaking about this. The people on the single aged pension are doing it exceptionally tough.
It is time to fix that. In our first six months in office we have established a means of doing that. And it reports next February and in the mean time, you have from us, virtually a doubling of what Mr Howard delivered by way of additional payments in the previous budget for this coming, this current financial year.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, are any of your family on the single aged pension?
PM: My mother, prior to her death was. That is how she survived.
JOURNALIST: And she got by okay on it?
PM: My mother, I have just answered the question as I did.
JOURNALIST: Wouldn't you have saved all this grief if you had done this in the budget, if you had increased the pension in the budget?
PM: Well can I just say first of all, let's put this into context. The pressures on the aged pension have been growing for years and years and years. Secondly there has been no fundamental review of the adequacy of the pension against a new means of calculating it for decades. Thirdly within our first six months in office, we established that.
Fourthly what we then do is to say for the year ahead, rather than simply say that what Mr Howard gave pensioners by way of an additional payment last year was enough, we would go further and in fact virtually double that in our first budget.
So what did Mr Howard do in his last budget? He provided a one-off $500 payment to pensioners. We did that and on top of that we increased the utilities allowance to $500 a year and made it permanent.
That's what we did. That is for the interim. Put those two payments together - $500 as a special one off payment, plus the $500 utilities allowance - that's about $1000 for the year that is underway, before we come to the fundamental reform which is being undertaken by Mr Harmer.
That is a rational, reasonable basis to proceed through this debate, given that, and I say this to, again, people from the political opposition, that the price pressures on pensioners did not start in November last year.
They began a long time ago. And no one - repeat, no one - has actually done the fundamental work to put this on a better and more humane and fairer basis for the future and we are determined to do that.
JOURNALIST: Brett, did you ask for on the ABC a one-off, stand alone payment between now and when Harmer reports?
RAGUSE: No in fact if you read the transcript I didn't say that. What I did say was that people want action right now. The action we are taking, as the Prime Minister has announced, this review, in February next year, that is the action that we are taking, yes.
JOURNALIST: Are you back pedalling now?
RAGUSE: Not at all, in fact read the transcript, read the transcript.
PM: That is exactly what Brett said and can I say, he is doing what I have asked which is go out and talk to pensioner groups. You can either sort of you know, play politics with this like the Liberals do, or you can engage with pensioner groups as we have done through practically every community cabinet we have held around the country in our first nine months in office.
And simultaneously, have the most senior officials in the land conduct a root and branch review of the adequacy of the pension system. All that in our first nine months in office. What happened in the previous 12 years in office? That is the question I'd like to ask. What happened for the previous 12 years in office?
I don't hear any answer from those opposite on that.
I did hear one thing though, from Margaret May, who is a shadow minister from this part of the world, who on one day said that the Liberals had committed to increasing the base rate of the pension, before Malcolm Turnbull one hour later cut her down and said the Liberals had no such policy. So let's just clarify that.
JOURNALIST: Speaking of this part of the world, is it just coincidence that you, Julia Gillard, Nicola Roxon and Wayne Swan are all (inaudible).
PM: Queensland is a nice place.
JOURNALIST: It is not that cold in Canberra at the moment?
PM: I come back to Brisbane all the time. I didn't think I needed a visa to come back mate. I was staying at Norman Park last night, is that acceptable for you? It's alright, we put the garbage out as well so it's ok.
Wayne also comes from here as and I think Victorians are able to visit as well, that's Julia, so I think you guys both need to take counselling.
JOURNALIST: On climate change there is a group of scientists saying that the Garnaut report doesn't go far enough and they want to see 40% cuts?
PM: Well there is always going to be argy bargy within the scientific community, and the policy community, and the business community over climate change and what should be done to it. Let me just say absolutely clearly - we are determined to implement a carbon pollution reduction scheme. It's the right thing to do for the planet, it's the right thing to do for the Australian economy. It's the right thing also to do for the long term interests of working families and we are going to do that.
It's going to be tough, it's going to be controversial, some people will say we have done too much, others will say we've not done enough. I'll tell you what though - we've pulled our head out of the sand, we've ratified Kyoto as a first act of this Government, we are now fully engaged in the global negotiations on the future of Kyoto and we are going to get on with it.
The alternative is to continue 12 years of denial, we don't intend to do that. Climate change is a challenge for the future and it requires tough decisions now and we are determined to make those decisions.
JOURNALIST: They're scientists though - wouldn't they know how much it needs to be cut to make a change?
PM: Well you know something - my experience is that not all scientists agree and you can have who have different views. And I can I say this about Professor Garnaut's report as well. His is an independent report. What he is contributing to is the national debate on both the underpinning science of climate change but also the policy response to it.
The key alternative though is this - either you take the alternative Government's script which is to continue to engage in climate change denial or you have a plan of action. We have a plan of action, it's called a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, it will be followed by a national energy efficiency strategy, it will be followed by a national renewable energy strategy and that's what I call a coherent response for the challenge. But there is always going to be argy bargy on the way through - free country, people are going to agree or disagree.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister in you PANPA address you said that you are the only newspaper reader in your family...
PM: Is that a crime, or what?
JOURNALIST: As a newspaper journalist, no. Given the recent redundancies at Fairfax are you concerned about the future of quality journalism in Australia?
PM: Oh I stand by the remarks I made in the address at PANPA which is that newspapers are critical to the lifeblood of democracy., whether they are delivered physically or whether they are delivered online, it's just that quality journalism is important.
Quality journalism as I said whether it's electronic or whether it's with the new media or whether it's through the traditional forms of print remain vital for Australia's future and I see no diminution of that around the country and in fact there's a greater demand for more of it.
You know why? Because as I said in the speech to PANPA just before, Australians want a debate about new solutions to the new problems that we are facing.
Whether it's family disintegration at a very local level or whether it's climate change at a global level, they are actually tired of the ancient sort of political script of someone blames somebody else, they actually want some positive solutions. I think that's what they want to get on with.
Now, having quality journalism provide the means through which that debate can and should occur is important for the future as well.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: I am not about to enter into an internal debate about the virtues of Fairfax's industrial arrangements or News Ltd's industrial arrangements or Channel 9's industrial arrangements or Channel 10's industrial arrangements or Channel 7's industrial arrangements. Did I miss anybody, AAP sorry.
JOURNALIST: Were you informed about the cuts in May when you met with the Fairfax executives?
PM: I can't recall when I last met with Fairfax because I see them all the time. But not that I can recall.
JOURNALIST: PM, RBA warning of 100,000 jobs to be lost, are we on the brink of a recession?
PM: I think on the question of employment as we have said consistently through the budget papers, that we project unemployment to increase to 4.75%. We've been upfront about that, we said it at the time of the Budget and you know something Australia is not immune from the global economic crisis.
If you look at the remarks I delivered this morning, you've got action by the United States regulatory authorities in relation to Fannie May and Freddie Mac and that is a huge action by the US Government. You have five of the seven industrial economies in the world either at zero growth or negative growth over the last quarter. You have the third big oil price shock in the last 30 years and the roll through effect on business confidence across the OECD has been huge.
But you know something - we have a clear cut economic strategy to see Australia through these difficult economic times. We intend to prosecute that and if you look at the condition of other economies around the world I believe that we are well positioned in Australia to see this economy through, we intend to do that, it will require tough decisions on the way, one of which is to retain the viability of the Government's budget surplus.
And the reason we need that is to provide a buffer for the future in uncertain times and again I would call upon the Liberals, get responsible. Unblock the passage of these bills in the Senate so that the Budget surplus can be maintained.
Let me just come back to one final point. We spoke before about the age pension and acting on that.
So the Liberals are supporting a measure in the Senate which protects the buyers of luxury cars, half a billion dollars worth, while we're in the business of reforming the long term underpinnings of the age pension. I rest my case.
By the way on the global economy I just saw some comments from Mr Costello in the United States. I find those remarkable. There you have Mr Costello and the Liberals who gave us 10 interest rate rises in a row, $400 interest rate hike a month for average mortgage holders, the second highest interest rates in the world and he goes offshore and delivers us a lecture about the state of the Australian economy.
I think Mr Costello should reflect on the conditions he left this Australian economy in as of November last year. Inflation running at 16 year highs, 10 interest rate rises in a row resulting in a $400 a month hike on interest rate payments for average mortgage holders and on top of that the second highest interest rates in the world and Mr Costello goes offshore and bags the Australian economy, well I don't think that's the right way to go.