PM: It's a great pleasure to be here today. I'm joined by the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, and joined by the Mayor of the Moreton Bay Council, Alan Sutherland, and we are here to sign this document. Our signatures have been put on the page, a very important document, saying there for all the world, in gold letters, that this is the Intergovernmental Agreement for the Moreton Bay Rail Link. This is a fantastic partnership between the Federal Government, State Government, and local Council to bring a desperately needed rail line to a community that has campaigned for it for more than 100 years.
During the election campaign, with the Premier and with the Mayor, I announced that the Gillard Government, if elected, would contribute more than $700 million to this project. I'm pleased today to come here and honour my word, to honour my word by signing this agreement and with the signing of this agreement it is absolutely all systems go to build the Moreton Bay Rail Link.
It's going to make a great difference for people in this local community. Less travel time simply means more time at home with family and friends, and people desperately want to spend more time at home and less time in transit to work.
It's a greener way of people moving from this peninsula to where they need to go for work. Each full train is the equivalent of taking 600 cars off the road, and of course there are thousands of jobs created through this project - thousands of jobs in direct construction and then the jobs which will flow from people being able to move more easily through the new rail line.
I'd like to say to this community, particularly standing here with the Premier and with the local mayor, congratulations on all of the campaigning work you've done to bring this project to this stage I know it's been long fought for. And I'd like to specifically acknowledge our local member Yvette D'Ath, the Member for Petrie, who has been a strong and continuing advocate for this project.
And I'd also like to acknowledge the work of our Minister, Minister Anthony Albanese, who as our Minister for Transport and Infrastructure has been pivotal to the Federal Government making this commitment.
I'll turn now to the Premier for some comments.
PREMIER BLIGH: Thank you Prime Minister and welcome to Queensland, welcome particularly with such good news.
The Moreton Bay Rail Link has been a long time coming. I think it has been promised by almost every Premier of Queensland. I was determined that I would not promise this rail link unless I could deliver it. I am absolutely delighted today to be standing here with the Prime Minister of Australia and the Mayor of the Moreton Bay region to deliver to the people of this part of Brisbane a rail link that will transform their community.
The Moreton Bay Rail Link today becomes signed and sealed. The challenge now is to deliver it. Over the next 12 months we'll have our final geotechnical work undertaken, public consultation on the preferred alignment and construction is set to start in 2012.
This project is now full steam ahead. We've got the finances settled and we're on track to have this start construction in 2012. This rail link will make a huge difference to the congestion on our roads in the northern part of Brisbane and I'm absolutely delighted that we're making it happen.
Prime Minister you came here and made a promise. Today you're keeping that promise. We thank you. To the Council, I know that finding these sorts of funds is not easy at the local level of government. Between the three of us we can make this happen. If it'd been left to one level of government, it would have been a very tough call, but when we all put our shoulders to the wheel we can make something very important happen.
So thank you, thank you to my state Members who between them have always been champions for this project.
As I said it's been a long time coming. No-one can accuse anybody of rushing it, but it's now a reality and it's something that we will now get on and deliver.
I'll invite the Mayor.
MAYOR SUTHERLAND: Well, as I said before, I'd like to thank both the Prime Minister and the Premier. This is indeed an historic occasion for the area and I am absolutely delighted that this is a great example of what happens when people cooperate and work together.
The benefit is going to be for the members of this community, for every man, woman and child that using a car, a clean, greener way to get to work, to get to school, to get to university and that's what it's all about. It's about lifestyle.
This is a very fast growing area in Australia, one of the fastest growing areas in Australia, and unless we work together cooperatively, we won't have these great outcomes and I couldn't be more happy with the outcome here today. After over 100 years of promises, we are finally delivering the Moreton Bay Rail Link.
PM: Thank you very much. We're happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Well, you'll be able to have a look at the agreement but we have worked long and hard to get the costings right on this. As the Premier has said, and as our local Mayor has indicated, we haven't rushed into this, we've got the details right and the details are in the agreement that we've signed. The funding is being made available, the finances are right and work will be underway in 2012.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that residents will still be sceptical until they see some actual work started, though?
PM: Well, I can understand that people like to see earthworks and things actually happening, but it is locked in. It's absolutely locked in.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
SUTHERLAND: Well, I think one of the reasons for the scepticism, as I can remember at least six or eight occasions where it's been promised from all tiers of government and so many elections. In fact, I can remember going back to the '70s when I was aware of it actually being promised politically, and the rail line, the corridor had been bought many, many years ago. 90 per cent of the corridor had been obtained in the '70s, but still no rail, and you can actually see the rail line from the air. The corridor's been available for many, many years. So when people Moreton Bay Rail Link and the rail to Redcliffe and the names it's been called over the years they go 'oh yeah', but this time it's a reality. That's the difference.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
BLIGH: What this says about the project is that when all three levels of government work together you can actually accelerate something and I think that's a great outcome. One of the reasons why this project can now become a reality is that unlike 30 years ago we now have a much bigger population in the region that will sustain public transport. So, I agree with the Mayor - you can actually Google the rail corridor. It's been here for 30 years, but having that corridor means that now that we've got the funding and the population to sustain it, what can get on a move very quickly. We don't have to go through a long and expensive acquisition process.
So what the Commonwealth and Council funding means is that we can bring forward this project and to bring forward an accelerate projects can often transform the road network, so it's a good thing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did you achieve high public office through good looks or intelligence?
PM: Look-
BLIGH: -It doesn't have to be an either/or.
PM: I presume you're referring to some comments made by the Leader of the Opposition in Queensland. Can I say, in relation to those comments, every day I go round this country I meed fantastic women who are doing amazing things using their intelligence and using their capacity for hard work.
JOURNALIST: Do you find the comment insulting?
PM: I think they're not right for the 21st century. I think they're a bit of a throwback in time.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: We are opening GP clinics around the country and yesterday, of course, I was very delighted with the local Member here, Yvette D'Ath, to visit the GP Superclinic in Redcliffe, which is in construction, fives stories emerging from the ground, in construction and something that's going to make a big difference to health care, including health care training. As we open clinics we obviously phase in workforce. That's what's happening in the clinic you refer to in South Australia. Doctors will be available from that clinic, workforce is being phased in. The clinic's been opened with the first workers who are available and as areas in the clinic are finalised workforce will be phased in. It's the absolutely standard way of opening a new facility.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: The Minister for Health has obviously worked with the local community to get plans. It's absolutely normal to phase in workforce - nothing unusual, nothing odd, absolutely normal to phase in workforce.
You look here in Queensland, where people I believe are embracing GP Superclinics, you look at the delight in Redcliffe with the new Superclinic, which will not only enable people to get health care services, importantly it will enable training for health care professionals right here, with the ability of people who have been trained here to then stay to help their profession in the region.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: I don't accept any of that critique. It's not justified by the facts and we're very happy to give you all of the full facts of the program, and can I suggest that you may want to talk to the people involved here in Redcliffe about how absolutely delighted they are with this transformative project for local health care - a good example of how GP Superclinics are making a difference right around the country.
The GP Superclinic schedule has been published by the Government. The Minister for Health has obviously made a number of announcements about where GP Superclinics are to be located. We've got Superclinics that are open and providing services. We've got Superclinics that are in construction and nearing completion, like the very transformative one I saw in Redcliffe yesterday.
JOURNALIST: Will you release the banking report over the weekend?
PM: The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has made it clear that he will release his plans on banking and increased competition in the banking sector in December. It'll be released this month, as verified by the Treasurer.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
BLIGH: I don't have any current intentions to do so. My Minister's have big responsibilities and I want them to get on with the job of meeting those responsibilities in their portfolios.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you about how you made it to the top in public life? Is it all good looks or intelligence?
BLIGH: I think with the comments John-Paul Langbroek has managed to singlehandedly insult every woman in Australia. My experience is that Australian women and Australian men get success in life through hard work, intelligence and perseverance, and I think these sorts of comments frankly belong in the last century.
JOURNALIST: Do you reckon he might have got his job by his good looks?
BLIGH: You might (inaudible), but I couldn't possibly comment.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
BLIGH: Look I just don't understand why people are still talking about these sorts of things in the 21st century. Women have to work very hard, just like men, to succeed in any field - whether it's at home, whether it's at work, whether it's in sport, whether it's in something you chose to do after hours. It's not easy to get to the top in any field and for Australian women, just like Australian men, hard work and intelligence is always what takes you there, and these sorts of comments frankly belong in the last century.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, was Paul Hogan the right person to represent Australia in the World Cup bid, considering (inaudible)
PM: The decisions about who appeared in the promotional campaign were made by FIFA and what FIFA wanted to do was bring iconic Australian personalities and iconic Australian scenes woven together with a story with some humour to promote Australia to FIFA and to promote Australia on the world stage.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) $45 million is a lot of money for one vote?
PM: I think everybody is disappointed and those that worked so hard on what was a great bid are very disappointed, and I'd certainly say I believe Frank Lowy and his team have done a remarkable job.
A great bid was put together to showcase Australia to the world. I believe the bid shows that, just like the held the world's best Olympics, we would have held a great World Cup here in this country.
Getting these international sporting events to your nation is tough. People would remember that we have two unsuccessful bids before we attracted the Olympics to Sydney and what a remarkable and wonderful Olympics it was.
So, we've been able to showcase Australia to the world. I'm disappointed, I think Australians are disappointed and the key members of our bid team including great Australians that have worked long and hard, like Frank Lowy, are understandably very disappointed.
JOURNALIST: You're not embarrassed by the result, though, for Australia?
PM: We've shown Australia to the world and that's very important. People will analyse the FIFA voting decision. We're not the only nation disappointed today. Obviously the home of football, the United Kingdom, is also disappointed with the result, but let's remember: great world stage on which to showcase Australia, and we've done that. We had a great bid and it is difficult to get these big, international, sporting events. We tried twice before we successfully got the Olympics in Sydney.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: I'm sure this community honours the Bee Gees in many, many different ways. Whether they want a statue I'll leave to local council to work through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's Australia (inaudible) The torture video of Papuans, what does Australia -
PM: -I've had cause to comment on this matter before and when I met with the President of Indonesia he was very, very open about saying to me, and he later said to the waiting media who interviewed the two of us, that he personally wanted to see the appropriate action taken about this matter. He wants to see any wrongdoers brought to justice and is very focussed on that.
JOURNALIST: What will Australia do?
PM: These are matters for the Indonesian government. It happened in Indonesia.
JOURNALIST: Why is Australia still (inaudible)
PM: We, as a nation, have human rights values and we raise those human rights values on the world stage, that's appropriate. The President of Indonesia has made absolutely clear that he wants to see any wrongdoers brought to justice in this matter.
JOURNALIST: Premier, health bureaucrats have gotten into (inaudible), what was your reaction to that (inaudible)
BLIGH: Queensland reports incidents in our hospitals in an open and transparent way. This is the report of critical incidents in our hospitals that was published in relation to '07/'08. We publish it every two years and the next one will be due in the early part of 2011.
This material is publicly available. We report openly and transparently. In fact, we're required to under national requirements.
What we will not do - and I give the patients of Queensland this absolute reassurance - what we will not do is provide through right to information material the names of patients to journalist and nor will we provide the names of staff to journalists. I can understand why journalists want this material, but I give the patients of our health system an absolute guarantee that their confidentiality and privacy will be protected.
What we will do is provide this information as we have done consistently, I think for almost a decade. Every critical incident that happens in our hospital gets recorded and then published in documents such as this, in a form that is part of a national agreement so that we can make comparisons between Queensland and other states.
JOURNALIST: Why would they go to that length to hide information? I mean, details (inaudible)
BLIGH: I understand that the material that was not provided to the journalist in question was material that, while the name had been blacked out, still had sufficient identifying information. We will protect the identity and confidentiality of the patients of Queensland Health, as well as the staff who work in our system where appropriate.
What we will also do is continue to report in considerable detail, because we understand you only improve the system by ensuring you examine carefully those mistakes that happen in the system. That's what this report does. This report will be published every two years.
What I will not do - and I give and absolute commitment to patients in our heath system - is provide identifying information to journalists.