PM: I'm here today with Minister Kate Ellis and we're at Yummy's Cafe which has well and truly lived up to its name. It is a great service, supporting this community, part of our Communities for Children program. And I've had the opportunity this morning to meet some young mums, some young mums who are relying on this service for personal support but some young mums who through this service are studying, they're studying to be childcare workers, studying to get that all important certificate that will get them a job, get them a great start, and which can lead to further education because a number of them have talked to me today about going on to the diploma level of their childcare studies. That's all great news.
And today I want to talk about a new program that the Government is announcing regarding teen parents. Of course we are only a few days away from the forthcoming Budget, and the Budget will be a tough budget, it will be about the nation living within its means, but even in a tough budget, it is very important for us to make the right choices to do the right thing for this country's future, and as I've made those choices with Treasurer Wayne Swan, at every opportunity we have put at the forefront of our decision making education and support for Australians to make sure that they get good opportunities in life; you make choices in a budget and we've made choices to prioritise education and opportunity for Australians.
This week I have confirmed that the Federal Government will in this Budget honour our initiative to provide rewards to great teachers, I've confirmed that we will honour our election commitment to provide additional family payment support to parents of teenagers. We've announced a new program to support students with disability; these are all important choices in the Budget.
Now I understand that we've been criticised for these choices, Mr Abbott would prefer to rip $2.8 billion out of education, well I simply say that's the wrong choice, it's a risky choice for the nation's future.
And Mr Hockey has criticised our plan to support low income families and middle income families who have teenagers. Well once again I think that's the wrong choice and a very risky choice in terms of supporting Australians who need a helping hand with the costs of raising a teenager and keeping that teenager at school.
Here today we are making a choice to work with teenage parents so that they get a good opportunity in life and so do their children. There are around 11,000 teenagers who are parents in this country, more than half of them were actually on welfare support before becoming a parent. 80 per cent of them have not completed Year 12 and they are eight times more likely to come from a disadvantaged area rather than an advantaged area. These teen parents are at risk of a lifetime of disadvantage if we don't try and make a difference for them, and if they're at risk of a lifetime of disadvantage, so are their children, because all of the research tells us that a child growing up in a home where no one works is far more likely to be a disadvantaged adult.
We want to break that cycle of disadvantage and we want to break that cycle of disadvantage through extending new opportunity and requiring new responsibility. That's why today I'm announcing that the Federal Government will require teen parents to engage with Centrelink, to be there engaging every six months, and the purpose of that engagement is to put together a participation plan. Put very simply, that's an education plan for the parent, a plan to make sure that they can get that all important Year 12 qualification or its equivalent.
We know that the jobs in today's workforce require you to have finished school or to have an equivalent qualification and that's what the plan for education will be aimed at. It will also require a plan for services, a plan for the child, a plan to make sure that that young child is getting the services they need, whether that's through playgroup, through engaging with health services, or other forms of support.
So this is about responsibility, but it's also about opportunity, new opportunities for teen parents to get the support they need.
What is happening in this service is young people with babies can come here, they can get childcare support, they can get personalised support, they can get access to education. We want to extend more of those opportunities, so as we roll out our new responsibility plan for teen parents in ten trial sites around Australia, we will also roll out support services; youth connection services to help people find the links that they need and get the personal support they need to develop their plan for their future. And more services like this one, our Communities for Children services that support teen parents, support their children, help them feel that support and get back into education and training.
So this is all about responsibility, it's all about opportunity, it's all about improving the life chances of teen parents and thereby improving the life changes of their children.
Now we will continue to be supporting education and opportunity for Australians, we'll do that whilst bringing the budget back to surplus in 2012-13 as promised. That's required the making of a lot of tough choices, the making of the right choices to support Australians.
Now I note yesterday the Shadow Treasurer, Mr Hockey, has effectively committed the Leader of the Opposition to announcing a plan to bring the budget back to surplus a year earlier. Now I do want to say following Mr Hockey's statements yesterday, that Mr Abbott next week faces a very big test, we announce the Budget on Tuesday, he responds on Thursday, and given the statements by his Shadow Treasurer yesterday, he must on Thursday, announce every dollar, and every cent, every column of figures, that would enable him to bring the Budget to surplus a year earlier than the Government.
You can't go round talking about it and then not show how you're going to do it.
Mr Abbott's failed on three occasions to show the kind of responsibility that is required of people who seek to lead this nation. On three occasions he's simply failed to make the figures add up.
He had an $11 billion budget black hole in his election commitments.
In his Budget Reply last year he didn't release any figures, deferring them to his Shadow Treasurer who then deferred them to the Shadow Finance Minister in what quickly became a laughable shambles.
And then earlier this year, when we were there making the responsible decisions to fund the work that needs to be done to rebuild the nation after the summer of floods and the cyclone, Mr Abbott yet again couldn't make his figures add up.
Well there's an old saying: three strikes and you're out and on that basis Mr Abbott already has three strikes, but he faces a new test next Thursday night to show the nation how he says he would bring the budget to surplus a year earlier than the Government, and if he fails that test, then Australians are entitled to conclude Mr Abbott is far too big a risk to be considered for leadership of this nation.
I'll ask Minister Ellis to describe the kind of support services we will roll out for teen parents and then I'll be very happy to take questions.
MINISTER ELLIS: Well thank you very much Prime Minister. Can I thank the organisers, the parents and the students, who join with us here today.
We are very keen to ensure that teen parents do not get left behind from the great opportunities which face the rest of the nation. It is absolutely essential that the most vulnerable young parents have educational qualifications that stand them in good stead in the labour market, and this is what today's announcement is all about.
It is not only good for individuals, it is not only good for these teen parents, it is good for the communities and it is good for our national economy, if we have more people engaging at an economic capacity. So, these new participation plans will help to ensure that parents are job ready, that they are tailored to the individual needs of the teen parent and to their children.
Of course, we know that teen parents have specific additional needs for parent support and that is why it is important that they will be given support to help them in meeting these extra responsibilities and milestones.
As the Prime Minister has mentioned, there will be support from youth connections projects, services through individualised case management of their TAFE, of their school and of their other training requirements. There will also be support through communities for children's services, bringing parents together through playgroups, through opportunities to come together and exchange learning and information.
But importantly, we will also help these teen parents by ensuring that they have access to early childhood education and care. We will do this by removing the barrier of costs and ensuring that almost 100 per cent of the childcare costs will be met through the Australian Government.
We know that this is important in allowing teen parents to go on and finish Year 12 to achieve their educational needs, but we also know that it is important for these children and that early child education and care is critical in these early years to give these kids every best opportunity for the future. These are the supports that we put in place, but we also know that with this support from the government comes responsibility on these parents, because we want to make sure that they meet every potential for them and their children as well.
PM: Thank you very much. So we're happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister could you talk to us about what will happen to the people who chose not to participate?
PM: Well, the participation requirement here will be one to engage, to engage with Centrelink and to work out your plan - your plan for education and your plan for your child to get the services that you need. If people refuse to participate without reasonable excuse then they will ultimately face a suspension of benefits, but that's not what this is about, this is about engaging parents so they have a better life and their child has a better life.
Yes - there's compulsion, there's responsibility, but there's opportunity at the centre of this measure. I've met with some young mums here today and their kids, some fantastic young people and they are here to make a life for themselves and their child. They're studying childcare, it's a growth industry, they're going to get a job, they're going to get a good job and then they're going to go on to further study and a better job. Indeed some of them already have plans to go from the certificate level to the diploma level. Well that offers a better life for them and their child than endless years on passive welfare, that's what this measure is all about.
JOURNALIST: What are the test trial sites?
PM: The trial sites will be announced at the time of the Budget.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, many women take time off work to have a child, is this encouraging these young mums at six months to engage (inaudible) is a little bit early?
PM: Well let's be clear - when the child is six months old, the young mums will be engaged with Centrelink, but in terms of rolling out their plan for education, that won't happen until the child is 12 months old. So you just said to me many mums want to take the first 12 months off with their child - absolutely, caring for children is a big responsibility, a big job, takes a lot of effort and we understand that and this program has been structured understanding that people want that intensive time with their child. But understanding too that it's not in the interest of the teen parent or their child for them to not participate in education, not participate generally and then hit participation requirements in our current welfare system when their child is six and they've been disengaged from everything - education, work, everything for at least six years.
And let's just go through the stats again - 11,000 teen parents, around half of them were on welfare before they became parents and 80 per cent of them don't have Year 12. So we're talking about people who would have been out of education, out of work for at least six years and possibly longer and then present having to look for a job, not even with a Year 12 qualification. It's not in their interest. It's in their interest to get involved, get engaged, opportunity and responsibility put together and that's what this measure is about.
JOURNALIST: How many people do you think this might help then?
PM: Well, we'll hit the ten trial sites first. Our estimate is that will cover around 4,000 of the 11,000 teen parents that I am referring to. The reason we want a trial it is this is a fresh start, this is a very new plan, an innovative plan that comes from the Government's desire and my personal desire to see the spread of opportunity in this country to everyone. To not have anyone branded as too hard a case and left on the sidelines, but to ensure we've got opportunity for everyone. So it's a fresh approach and because it's a different approach we're going to trial it first in ten sites.
JOURNALIST: You have to admit though, that some of these young mums would find it very difficult and especially if they are on their own and they have three children to spend the whole day at schools (inaudible)?
PM: Well, look at the service here to show how it all can work. Here in an integrated service and we are going to roll more of these services out, so that they've available to assist people in the trial sites. Here at this service, and I've talked to the young mums here today - you come, you bring your child with you, you're in a supportive environment, the cafe is there, the cafe actually makes money for this service, you can have a great cup of coffee, you can have a talk with your friends, the people that you've met here. So you're engaged with a friendship group and then you can study while your child is cared for, that's the model.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, yesterday you refused to comment on whether the Immigration Minister wasn't informed by his department about a homemade bomb at Villawood detention centre and you said that some things on radio aren't 100 per cent right. Would you apologise and acknowledge that the report was actually entirely correct and your Minister was kept in the dark?
PM: I'm smiling at the slippery dip noise behind us. No, I won't. I do find that it pays to check reports on radio and in the media generally and I'll continue to take the approach. The Minister has now explained this matter and indicated his dissatisfaction that he wasn't properly informed by his department, but when claims are raised in the media of course we need to investigate them first, it's the right thing to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister are you concerned that the Minister didn't know about it, that he was kept in the dark?
PM: Well, the Minister dealt with this matter yesterday and has indicated, he was concerned about it. So, yes I share those concerns.LARISSA ZIMMERMAN: Excuse me Prime Minister, just getting back on track - I wrote to you last week and all the State Premiers and Chief Ministers with regard to perhaps looking at prevention, as opposed to cure and I wonder if you're going to look at introducing financial literacy legislation and replacing the baby bonus with a pre-parenting program? I ran for the Sex Party last year for the Senate, my name's Larissa Zimmerman and I'd love to know if you received my letter.
PM: Well, Larissa I'll have to check. As you would imagine I get tens and tens of thousands of letters, so I'll have a check and have a look through and make sure we respond to you. On financial literacy, we invested more in financial literacy; I think it's really important that people have the skills they need to add their budgets up. We understand people are facing cost of living pressures and a number of the announcements I've made this week have been in recognition of that, particularly yesterday's announcement, where we're going to provide better support to parents of teenagers. So, financial literacy - I share your concern. On the details of the programs you're recommending I'll get back to you in the letter.
JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to the Pakistani High Commissioner, and if so what was said and if not, why not?
PM: No I haven't spoken to the Pakistani High Commissioner, and you're obviously referring to the death of bin Laden and I've made very clear on behalf of the Australian Government that I welcome the news of bin Laden's death. I've also made it very clear that we do co-operate with Pakistan on counter-terrorism and will continue to do so.
JOURNALIST: Does the decision not to release a photo then of bin Laden give you some relief, in terms of reducing the risk of tensions across the world?
PM: This is a decision for the American President to make.
JOURNALIST: Why have you chosen Ambarvale to make the announcement?
PM: We wanted to come here because this is such a great service and such a great example of what we want to see in other parts of the country and I knew that coming here today, because this is such a great service, bringing together as it does so many of our not for profit groups, them working together in genuine partnership, that we would be able to see me personally and also through our friends in the media, be able to expose to the Australian community the kind of service that can make a real difference for teen parents - the focus of this announcement today.
JOURNALIST: How will you ensure that the parents who don't comply with the new reform, that they're not left in the cold when they're isolated as a teen parent?
PM: All they have to do is re-engage. So, this is a requirement to be engaged with Centrelink, to have a plan, to be going about your education, to be getting appropriate services for your child. If someone misses their engagement with Centrelink and has a reasonable excuse then of course that excuse will be accepted. If people don't engage and don't have a reasonable excuse then they could face a suspension of benefits, but then that will be made up to them once they re-engage. We are asking people to show that kind of responsibility in exchange for what is a new opportunity to support them and to support their child and if we think about the patterns of work and patterns of life for Australians generally: if you can't go to work on a given day, then you get in contact and you explain why, that's normal behaviour, thousands, millions of Australians every year have to do that, they go to work, if they've got a problem getting to work that day - they're sick, their child is sick, there's been a death in the family, something's gone wrong - then they ring their employer and they explain why. It's that kind of responsibility we're looking for here.
JOURNALIST: Back to the budget for a moment, do you believe ordinary Australians are experiencing unusual levels of stress in their family budgets?
PM: Out in Australia generally - here we are out in a wonderful suburb today - I think for people today there are cost of living pressures pressing on them. Absolutely, I understand that, for families it can be really, really tough to make ends meet and so the right thing for us to do as a Government when people are facing those cost of living pressures is provide support when we can, for example, yesterday's announcement to better support families with the cost of teenagers and the responsible thing to do is to bring the budget back to surplus so that we are not adding to the inflationary pressures in the economy, because that would be bad for people's cost of living, if we added to those inflationary pressures. So this budget is about recognising our responsibility to bring the budget back to surplus, not add to those inflationary pressures, not add to those cost of living pressures and also to directly assist people where we can. That's the approach I'm taking to the budget but I do want to say too, you don't get the budget back in surplus just by wandering around talking about it, like Mr Hockey did yesterday, you've got to spend hours and hours, days and weeks, in careful, methodical preparation, so that when you produce the budget it all adds up.
Now Mr Abbott has set himself a test, that he will need to acquit next Thursday. He said he can do that. Well, Mr Hockey has said on his behalf, effectively, that Mr Abbott can do that and bring the budget back to surplus 12 months early. Well, the job for Mr Abbott to do now is to produce the alternate budget which shows how that's possible.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Access Economics says the deficit could actually turn out to be a lot bigger than forecast. Is that (inaudible)
PM: We'll, I'm not going to speculate on Budget figures. You'll see them on Budget night.
JOURNALIST: Can you tell us about the dinner last night and any discussions around the dinner table?
JOURNALIST: Do you honestly believe that the people here believe that the inflation rate is 3.3 per cent?
PM: I'll take the question here and then I'll answer your question, it that OK? I just had a question from the lady over here.
I did have a dinner last night with some leading Australian business people, that's one discussion I've had about pricing carbon. I've had many, many other discussions with business leaders about pricing carbon and I'll continue to do so. We'll keep consulting, that's the right thing to do.
On the inflation rate, it's not me that works out the inflation rate figure. That's done independently by the Bureau of Statistics.
Thank you.