PM: Can I start by starting where our first discussions were in COAG today, when COAG met this morning we'd just been informed that Paul Lockyer, Gary Ticehurst and John Bean had lost their lives, so COAG took a moment to reflect on that. They are known to First Ministers and we did want to express our condolences and our loving thoughts to those who would be grieving the loss of those people today and certainly we wanted to take the opportunity too to express our very sincere condolences to everyone in the ABC who would be feeling this very, very deeply.
COAG met today and welcomed some new members, particularly a new Premier of New South Wales and a new Chief Minister in the ACT. We took some time, too, to farewell some old friends - Premier Mike Rann, this is his last COAG, we also took some time to farewell the Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet Terry Moran, and this is his last COAG meeting as well.
First Ministers today spent some time discussing the circumstances in the Australian economy and we had discussions about the Australian economy and global economy last night. Out of those discussions clearly First Ministers reflected on the volatility that we've seen in global markets. We also reflected on the fact that Australia has low unemployment, low debt and a pipeline of investment; that we are well placed to see through any global challenges. We had a discussion about the continuing confidence we have in the Australian economy.
We also reflected on the fact that the growth in the Australian economy does pose challenges for many Australian firms, and consequently we have collectively resolved to continue on with economic reform to keep strengthening our economy for the future, even though our economy is well placed to meet the challenges of today. We have determined to press on with reforms in education, training and skills to help Australian firms to adjust to changes in the global economy and to take advantage of new opportunities.
Specifically on the economic reform agenda, today COAG signed three agreements on heavy vehicles, rail and maritime safety. This is a major economic reform.
Now, I understand that the question of heavy vehicle regulation doesn't necessarily sound all that interesting to some, but from the point of view of our economy what the signing of these three agreements means is that the number of regulators in heavy vehicles, maritime safety and rail safety has been reduced from 23 to just 3. This means we are cutting a lot of wasteful red tape and delivering a $30 billion boost to the Australian economy for the next 20 years for heavy vehicles alone, and we are dealing with a very sizable section of the Australian economy.
For railways, it means getting rid of seven separate regulatory authorities, 46 pieces of State and Territory and Commonwealth legislation, including seven rail safety acts, nine OH&S acts and seven dangerous goods acts.
Heavy vehicle operators will not have to have nine separate regulatory regimes to deal with their compliance work, and that's going to lead to increased efficiency and productivity for operators.
It will mean that there is one maritime regulator and law replacing 50 pieces of maritime legislation and seven State and Territory regulators.
So, this is a very significant reform, meaning people will no longer bear and burden like a rail operator running services from Melbourne to Brisbane will no longer be required to have three different accreditations and pay three separate sets of fees to Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland regulators. It does mean things like those in shipping have national standards that they can construct vessels to. So, this is an important reform.
We will continue to press on with these kinds of reforms for a seamless national economy because it helps bolster productivity and economic growth.
We've also committed ourselves to a major reform agenda in skills. Australia is undergoing a significant economic transformation: we've got the clean energy economy emerging; the resources boom; technological change; high-speed broadband; the increasing importance of services to our economy.
In order to make sure that Australians can get the best of the opportunities that flow from this economic transformation, we do need to ensure that our VET system is as agile as possible, as responsive as possible, meeting the needs of businesses and industries, so First Ministers are committed to a VET reform agenda. Provision was made in the May budget for a VET reform agenda and we are determined to get this done.
However, we did note that good progress has been made to date through collaborative work by the Commonwealth with the States and Territories. We have increased by 24 per cent the number of people studying higher level courses of Certificate III and above, and we have increased by 40 per cent those studying at diploma level, so this is good news that we already have more people studying higher qualifications but more needs to be done.
On the question of disability, First Ministers had a discussion arising from the Productivity Commission's work a National Disability Insurance Scheme. COAG has agreed on the need for major reform of disability services in Australia through a National Disability Insurance Scheme and I thank my colleagues for taking that decision today.
We will, as First Ministers, as COAG, develop high-level principles by the end of the year to guide this reform process including foundation reforms, funding and governance. We've also agreed to establish a select council of ministers from the Commonwealth, States and Territories to start work laying the foundations for a National Disability Insurance Scheme, so that's working on the kind of matters that Minister Macklin and others have been talking about, like common assessment tools which are necessary before you can contemplate wider reforms and deliver them.
We've all acknowledged this is a very complex area of work. As the Productivity Commission told us, this will take a lot of time, a lot of thinking, a lot of careful preparation and a lot of collaboration between the jurisdictions - Commonwealth, States and Territories - but we have resolved today that we do want to see this major reform.
We also had an extensive discussion on mental health, but I may ask my colleague Premier Rann to speak to that, because the discussion on mental health occurred at COAG as a result of his suggestion at the last meeting.
This is of course the first time COAG has met since COAG delivered the landmark health reforms that will deliver more beds, more doctors, more nurses, more funding with less waste and waiting time and less red tape. Today we took some steps to implement those reforms, some further steps, by agreeing that Ms Patricia Faulkner and Mr John Walsh should be the Chair and Deputy Chair of the National Health Performance Authority, and Mr Shane Solomon and Mr Jim Birch should be the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Industry Hospital Pricing Authority.
COAG also had a discussion about carbon pricing and the Government's package to price carbon. I think it won't amaze anybody in this room to say we didn't strike grand agreement on this question, so we've had an extensive discussion. I think the views of First Ministers are well known, but we did have the opportunity to discuss the Federal Government's carbon pricing package which we are committed to and will deliver through the Parliament before the end of this year.
In the absence of Chief Minister Paul Henderson, who is the Chair of the Council of the Australian Federation - he's already had to leave in order to travel back to the Northern Territory - we all thought it was appropriate to ask Premier Mike Rann to speak on behalf of the state colleagues and then we'll be happy to take any questions.
PREMIER RANN: Thank you Prime Minister.
I think it's been a very strong work program today across a range of issues, and on mental health this is an area where I think a number of us and certainly I felt that during the discussions over the past five or six years on national health reform and funding that really the missing link was mental health, and we're obviously delighted that in the Federal budget this year that there was a strong commitment from the Commonwealth to mental health, but clearly there's a lot more work to be done by all of us. We're, in South Australia, currently undergoing a major reform of mental health and I think that the message that we got from our invited experts today is that rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that really more acute beds are not what is needed in mental health but in fact intermediate care beds and community based mental health care. Also a much stronger focus, if you look at the diagrams of the incidence of mental illness, a much stronger focus on young people and also a very, very strong focus on mental health issues related to Aboriginal people as part of our closing the gap efforts. So, I think that was a terrific discussion and I think that that discussion today is likely to shape future direction in terms of mental health reform across Australia.
In other areas we obviously did deal with the transport issues. It's incredibly important. It's the modern equivalent of dealing with separate gauges, railway gauges between the states in terms of signing off today on reforms that will benefit the national economy by billions of dollars.
In other areas, of course, it's been mentioned about further reform in the areas of training. I think that's critically important in terms of what's happening to the changing nature of our economy, but also looking at the issue of international students. We think that there's some real work be done there. We've done incredibly well. In fact in my State and number of other States international students are now about our third-biggest export, and obviously in order to correct some of the problems that have arisen in recent years we've seen some pressures being placed on that, and obviously that's something we should address on the Knight review coming up over in coming months.
In the area of the price on carbon, if I could just say this: in South Australia, we have experienced record employment growth and strong infrastructure and economic growth in recent years, and it's interesting that if you look at the last nine years I think about 20 times the full-time jobs growth of the previous eight or so years, and we've done that at a time that we've seen a drop in emissions, so it can be done. I mean, South Australia has about 7.2 per cent of the population of Australia but has 54 per cent of the wind power and we're also doing a lot of effort in the area of solar energy and geothermal, so we strongly support a price on carbon. It has to be done. It's about a transition to a new economy, a new economy that means jobs, and we've demonstrated in South Australia that you can have strong jobs growth, strong commitment to the environment and a strong commitment to reducing emissions and embracing renewable energy.
PM: Thank you. Yes, Phil.
JOURNALIST: Questions for Premiers Baillieu, O'Farrell (inaudible) were any of you not so much persuaded or were your views changed at all by the Prime Minister's presentation on the carbon package?
PREMIER BAILLIEU: Can I make a comment there? I think the Prime Minister's views weren't changed by our presentations.
PREMIER BARNETT: Well, if I can just, I think everyone recognises that the Commonwealth Government's determined the progress this legislation. What probably came out of some of the discussions today was issues that certainly those three States mentioned see as anomalies, there are a number of anomalies in this scheme.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) expressed a concern about the effect on their asset values. My understanding was that you were happy to work with them on that. Did you make any progress on that today and Premier Bligh, that's an issue that I think you may be interested in - did you make any progress?
PM: Well, I'm happy to address that and then handover to Premier Bligh.
We do have in this carbon pricing package a differently constructed energy security package from the former CPRS, and we have deliberatively focussed on the key energy security questions which we believe arise from highly emissions intensive energy generation. So, the package has been pitched to do that - ensure continuity of supply as we change our energy mix increasingly towards cleaner, renewable sources of energy, and yes, that has been a point of dialogue and discussion between me and state premiers.
We will deliver the package that we announced and has been the subject of so much political commentary and debate within this building and beyond because we think it is correctly put together to do what we need to do in the electricity generation sector to move us to cleaner and renewable sources of energy. But yes, there's a variety of views amongst my colleagues about it and I'll turn to Premier Bligh.
BLIGH: Thank you.
While, as the Prime Minister said, there wasn't universal outbreak of agreement on all points. I think everybody would agree it was a constructive opportunity for States to bring to the Commonwealth's attention some of the issues that we believe affect us.
There's no doubt that there are some parts of this package, well, particularly in relation to generation, that fall disproportionally on states that have a high level of public ownership of coal-fired generators. I certainly felt I got a good hearing, that the Prime Minister heard the points that we were raising. I don't believe I've persuaded her yet but I don't believe the conversation is over.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
BLIGH: The negotiation.
PM: The conversation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what were the other anomalies that were raised, perhaps my question should got to the Premiers, including the West Australian Premier, what were some of the anomalies, the other anomalies that were presented and what was the answer that was given?
O'FARRELL: Look, I think the answer that was given was that this woman's not for turning. That was very clearly stated and I took advice from the Premier of Western Australia that once she's made that decision she's not going to be moved, but I am concerned about the impact on jobs in New South Wales. I'm concerned about the impact on prices. I'm concerned about the impact on our publically owned generators. You know, under this scheme if you're privately owned, if you're foreign owned, you get compensation. If you're publically owned you don't. We're going to lose $700 million in dividends and tax equivalents. That's $700 million that won't be available to invest in New South Wales services. So, I never came here today expect that we'd go away with everything. We certainly had a hearing, but it was also certainly clear that the Prime Minister was not for moving on this issue.
BAILLIEU: Can I make a further observation? We've said publically and stand by it we don't believe the package will be good for Victoria, but given that the Prime Minister is committed to this course of action we asked specific questions about compensation. Victoria is inadequately compensated to the extent of hundreds of millions of dollars, and the Prime Minister's made it clear that there's no further compensation, there's no compensation that we haven't yet heard about and nor will there be any consideration of further compensation. Now, we think that's disappointing.
PM: We are, I'd have to say, at odds on the analysis as well, but anyway. Yes?
JOURNALIST: To the three Coalition premiers, do you still have a five per cent reduction target by 2020. On the way in this morning you said that now is not the time to bring in a carbon tax, but you still have that target?
BAILLIEU: We have a piece of legislation passed by our predecessors, which we (inaudible) at the time, and that was essentially an aspirational target with some commitments involved in it. The Prime Minister has made it clear if this legislation goes through then States should be looking to adjust their own commitments so that we have a central focus.
O'FARRELL: I stand behind the timing comment, whilst the fundamentals of New South Wales economy are firm, it's clear that it's been mismanaged over the past decade and a half. We have a big job to do there, it's clear too as COAG has said today that the fundamentals of the Australian economy is good, but the fact is that we're facing uncertain international times and I don't think now is the time to bring in this major change. But that's an issue on which I lost today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, was there any discussion at the meeting about the coal seam gas industry underdevelopment and on associated issues? Have you got any doubt that gas, to (inaudible) electricity produces less carbon emissions than coal?
PM: Gas is going to be an important energy source, it generates less carbon pollution than coal and it's going to be an important fuel. I believe it's going to be a particularly important fuel as the world transitions to cleaner and cleaner energy sources. So, we see a strong future for the gas industry here in Australia, we'll use some of that gas, we'll export a lot of that gas. It's got a very bright future. I've had the opportunity with some of the people gathered here, Premier Bligh and I, for example, went and had an opportunity to look at a huge emerging project on Curtis Island. So, this is an important energy source for the future.
There was no discussion around the COAG table today of any sort of substance about the land use questions which I think you're referring to, that wasn't before us.
BLIGH: Can I add to that, the CSIRO, which I think is one of the most well respected science organisations on the planet, considered this issue in 1995 and I think put beyond any doubt that the emissions from coal seam gas are considerably less, between 50 and 70 per cent, than coal fired generation.
There are numerous other scientific reports that back that, some of the reports that have been relied on by the critics of CSG this week, if you have a look at them, are actually about extracting gas from shale, which is not what's happening in Queensland and nor am I aware of it happening here in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you Prime Minister, and perhaps Mr Rann, I see there's no response to the call from the mental health advocates this morning for mental health to be treated in funding on the same basis as treatment of physical illness. The fact you haven't responded to that call, does that mean it's a no from the States and Commonwealth?
PM: I'll turn to Premier Rann for some comments, but something that certainly happened in our discussions today is we reflected on the additional efforts that people have been putting in place in mental health. In the Federal Budget, obviously there was a multi-billion dollar package to make a difference in mental health, including more services through Headspace organisations and what are called EPICs, which are early intervention centres for young people and when we had the presentation today and we talked about this and more - actually whilst we had lunch - Professor Pat McGorry presented what is a very startling slide which shows you the burden of disease of mental illness on the shoulders of young people and hence his advocacy for an early intervention model.
So, we've been lifting effort, we lifted it in our budget, Premier Baillieu discussed in the room how his budget was delivered, I think, a week before ours and they'd auspiced a major package on mental health, so people have been lifting effort.
What you should conclude from the COAG documents is that we not only understand the need to lift effort, but we understand the need to be working together and to have a long range vision here, which is why the road-map is expressed as a ten year road-map.
RANN: None of us have had budgets in the last few hours, I mean it's silly. The fact of the matter is that in my state we put in an extra $300 million into mental health reform based on the recommendations of Monsignor David Cappo, who made recommendations to us and also addressed COAG today.
So, really it's about a change in approach and as I mentioned how the focus for years was on the acute end of things, actually in fact the expensive end of things, but it didn't take into account the needs of people getting better or people becoming unwell. It's about a staged approach, we're calling it the stepping up approach and so this is about, I guess, a very firm message to us about have a look, much closer look at community based care, also have a look at the needs of young people, this giant spike of our young people around the age of 20 and also on indigenous health, rather than just looking as we've done for years and years at hospital beds. So, it's about a different philosophy, more than a demand for us to announce new funding today, given that we just recently all announced new funding.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a little off topic, but was anyone from your office in contact with Craig Thomson yesterday to ask whether lying or misleading Fair Work Australia was going to be an issue?
PM: Look, members of my office are in contact with Labor caucus members all the time, you would expect that. Members of my office are particularly in contact with Labor Caucus members dealing with media matters, so of course my office was in contact with the Member for Dobell yesterday.
JOURNALIST: What response did they get, Prime Minister?
PM: In what sense?
JOURNALIST: To the inquiry about whether lying or deceiving Fair Work Australia was going to be an issue?
PM: Look, I'm not in a position to talk to you about all contacts between staff members in my office and the Member for Dobell. You asked me if staff members would have been in contact with him and the answer is yes, of course and my staff are very routinely in contact with all Labor Caucus members and assist Caucus members who are dealing with media inquiries including from your own organisation.
JOURNALIST: Not to be cute but you are confirming that that question was put to him directly?
PM: I can't confirm for you sitting here that contents of questions or individual communications with the Member for Dobell.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there anything in the carbon price package that requires mirror legislation by any of the other states and were you given any assurances?
PM: No, there's not.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) specific measures COAG will take to tackle indigenous mental health?
PM: I'll turn to Premier Rann, but the main discussion around the table was, as we go through this road-map and planning and national partnership and as we lift effort, which we've just talked about how people have been budgeting for increased effort and we certainly have been with a more than $2 billion package. As we lift effort we need to understand that it's not a one size fits all way of delivering services, so what works in the CBD, or in and around the CBD of Sydney, is not going to work for Chief Minister Paul Henderson in some of his remote indigenous communities.
So, we had that sort of conversation around the table and that's been reflected in the Communiqué, but Premier Rann might want to add to that.
RANN: What today was about what, and when you think about the recent hospital and health funding reforms and there was a hinterland of years of work today was about putting mental health reform firmly on the national agenda as a shared responsibility. And so, I've been to many, many COAG meetings, not just during my nine and a half years as premier, but also as an adviser back in the 1970s and 80s and so it's very unusual to actually invite people who are not from the government or not first ministers to actually come into COAG, so this was an extraordinary opportunity from three eminent Australians who are experts on mental health to have dialogue with us about the changing nature, not only of mental health in terms of youth and indigenous, but also about changing ways of dealing with it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have any concerns that the truck convoy on Monday morning could have the potential to disrupt the operations of Parliament, or indeed make it difficult for you to get to work?
PM: I'm very confident everybody's getting to work, including our journalist friends.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, did you give a sort of in principle support today to work with the other states on the development of a scheme, or are you still a bit reluctant to get involved?
BARNETT: No, I did give in principle support and, if I can say so, I have always had an open mind. The point to me, which I think has been resolved to my satisfaction, is that at the level of the Prime Minister and premiers the principles - and as the Prime Minister said the governance of what will be determined. One of the mistakes, in my opinion, that happened with so-called health reform, was that a package was put on the table before there had been an agreement across the Commonwealth and the States on how they should proceed and what nature it should take. That's why essentially version 1 fell apart.
So, I'm happy that now we've got agreement that the Heads of Government level the principles and structure and overall governance will be determined and then it can progress. That's what I sought.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) reducing stamp duties and so on, commensurate with what you spend on disability. Is that, are you still against that?
BARNETT: I would be, but we haven't even discussed that and that's exactly the sort of point, if we're to talk about a national scheme, then pretty quickly you have to get on to some sort of discussion about how it's going to be funded. And those issues need to be dealt with at this level. That's the point I make here.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) the heavy vehicle regulator, what will it take for you to actually sign up to that by January 2013 and Prime Minister, can I ask, there's a lot of exemptions across those reforms and the lack of a signature from WA at this point weakens the regime potentially further. How do you get around these, I mean doesn't it undercut your reform agenda if you have picking and choosing across a reform like that?
BARNETT: Can I just - Western Australia will sign that. We agree with the principles of it, we certainly agree on interstate transport, there are a couple of detailed matters and they primarily come from the fact that 95 per cent of West Australian heavy haulage is within the state, related primarily to big resource projects. So, that's just a particular issue, but broadly we agree with it and we will sign it.
PM: This, on anybody's accounting, is major reform. $30 billion of benefit to the economy, making sure that people don't have a crushing burden of red tape because they trade across state lines, in businesses that are very focussed on trading across state lines - rail, heavy vehicles, one of their principle purposes is to get things across state lines and to have different compliance mechanisms, different signals. If you're looking at a signal for safety in one state then another state, those signals mean different things.
So, they have to train the drivers to recognise that the meaning of the signal has changed. This is not something we confront driving ordinary cars, we know that a stop sign means stop whether we're in New South Wales or in Queensland or Western Australia or the ACT. We actually don't have that level of convergence currently in the regulation of heavy vehicles and rail. So, this is a big reform, productivity unlocking of real economic benefit and I'm very pleased we were able to secure agreement to it today.
JOURNALIST: Premier Baillieu, you, just to clarify your comments earlier, will you, if the Federal carbon price legislation is passed, will you seek to remove or reduce the State's emissions reduction target and just on a, in line with the Federal target and in second point, just in terms of the modelling you released yesterday, your office has put out a statement saying it does include the compensation outlined in the Federal Government's package, despite a number of questions put to you on this topic yesterday. Can you confirm that it includes all industry compensation that has been outlined in the clean energy package and secondly, will you release the full modelling document as your colleague on New South Wales has?
BAILLIEU: There's a whole bunch of questions there. Let me just talk about the modelling first and we were, I think most of the States were keen for the Commonwealth to release the modelling that's been undertaken and the Prime Minister's made it clear that that's not going to happen.
And the Prime Minister's made it clear that from the Commonwealth's point of view, the Commonwealth modelling can't be assessed on a regional basis. Now, I think most of the States would like to see the modelling on a state by state basis.
In terms of the modelling that we commissioned, Deloitte Access have made it clear that's been conducted in accordance with the same modelling protocols or assumptions that took place under the Commonwealth's modelling. So, the degree to which compensation is involved is the same as the Commonwealth's modelling.
Now, I'm sorry, I just-
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) just to paraphrase - comments about the state 20 per cent target. When you were talking before about how that would-
BAILLIEU: -No, I was making the point the Prime Minister made to all the states that if the legislation goes through then the states should be looking at their own packages to make sure that everything is as we wish it to be. Under the legislation that exists in Victoria, we are required to review the legislation in the event that the Commonwealth passes such legislation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, was there any discussion or update on GST sharing?
PM: No.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) explanation just now from Premier Baillieu, regarding modelling?
PM: I think Premier Baillieu and I are a little bit apart on these things. I am very confident in the Treasury's modelling. A lot of information has been released for people to see. I've made an offer to my colleagues around the table that their officials can be further briefed by Treasury officials. In respect of the modelling that Victoria gave to the media, the only information available to me to date has been the media reports, when I first looked at those media reports it appeared to me that they hadn't taken into account the industry assistance. I understand that Deloittes has put out a press release since. I haven't had the opportunity to read it myself, but I understand it refers to the main elements of assistance, so it's not clear to me what, if any, parts of the assistance are still not included.
But, at the end of the day, it becomes very difficult for me to in detail go through modelling, the only information that I know about it is that it's been in the media report.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) there's a fair chunk of the initial part of the Communiqué devoted to the economy. Was there any consideration from the States of future Federal stimulus funding in the event of a downturn, was that raised at all in State discussions with Canberra?
RANN: No it wasn't, but what was recognised is that Australia is in much better shape than just about anywhere else on the planet and that obviously puts us in a much stronger position, you look at, when you look at issues relating to AAA credit ratings and what's happened in recent weeks and you look how Australia is, you look how a State like mine is in terms of a AAA credit rating, you look at the banks of Australia, we're in very much stronger state than most of the rest of the world.
PM: Right we'll just discriminate in favour of redheads and then we might take one more question and then I'm a little bit anxious that some of my colleagues have planes to whisk them home. Katherine.
JOURNALIST: With apologies to the Premiers, I'm sorry Prime Minister, in relation to Mr Thomson there are some significant new allegations in the media this morning about the use of his credit card. Can you explain, given these allegations continue to surface why he has your full confidence?
PM: Mr Thomson is a very active and good representative of his constituency in the Federal Parliament, so he is someone who is very, very keen to argue on behalf of the people of Dobell and to secure for them a better deal and that's what Federal Parliamentarians should do and Mr Thomson does it. I understand that there is an investigation, I understand from media and other reports that there is an investigation by Fair Work Australia. Obviously that investigation will have to work its way through, it's not unknown, indeed it can be common for people to be investigated and then have no adverse conclusions drawn against them so we'll just see the investigation work its way through, but I deal with Mr Thomson in his capacity as the Member for Dobell representing that community and he does a good job.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: Look my focus today has been sitting with my colleagues working through these major issues on the national agenda.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you support Mr Thomson remaining as Chair of the Economics Committee going forward?
PM: Mr Thomson's got my confidence as I've expressed here today and in the Parliament yesterday.
JOURNALIST: Premier O'Farrell I just wondered-
PM: We will make this the last question or we will get more anxious Premiers.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) is it your position that the scheme, the emissions trading scheme or the carbon tax, should be delayed and if that's the position that you'll be advocating in respect of the Coalition's policy as well?
O'FARRELL: No I'm opposed to a carbon tax, what I'm arguing is if we're going to have a carbon tax, which I'm opposed to, there should be proper compensation otherwise families, businesses and taxpayers in New South Wales take a significant hit. I'm happy to support the Federal Opposition's approach to these issues but look don't expect me to do other than come to these forums and stand up for my state, it's about time we were listened to, it's about time we competently made our case. I've missed out today, the Prime Minister's been very clear about that, but it won't stop me arguing what I think is in the best interests of New South Wales.
PREMIER GIDDINGS: Prime Minister before we wrap up, just as a State that has supported you on carbon I just think it's important to make that point this afternoon as well, that we've heard from the States who are opposed to a price on carbon but in fact there are a number of States at the table who supported the work that you're doing and concede the difficulty of a tough decision like this one that you are going through. But from Tasmania's perspective we have been heard through that process and we are comfortable with the work that's been progressed with a carbon price and we support you with that.
PM: No better note to leave on. Thank you.