PM: I'm here today with the Acting Premier of Queensland, Andrew Fraser, and we're here at the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and I very much thank the CEO Mr Graeme Newton for his briefing of me and the Acting Premier today and I also thank Richard Wilson for having us here today.
Since the first days when Queensland was impacted by the summer of natural disasters, the Federal Government has been standing alongside the people of Queensland. I've had the opportunity to visit here on many occasions in the immediate aftermath and since, and every time I've been here I've been impressed by the spirit of courage that people are bringing to the rebuilding task and also the spirit of organisation that is working to get things done.
We have played our part by making resources available so we can work with the Queensland Government and with local communities to rebuild Queensland. We particularly worked to make $5 billion available and it wasn't easy, hotly contested in the Federal Parliament, directly opposed, but we were determined having extended a hand of friendship to Queensland during its darkest days that we would not be letting go.
We've advanced more than $2.2 billion of that money to boost immediate recovery and reconstruction efforts, and that money has been used for a variety of things including the payment of personal hardship payments, money to assist small businesses and not-for-profits, money to assist our primary producers, and there's been assistance provided in low-interest loans.
As we've been briefed today, a lot has been achieved to date. About 92 percent of effected roads are now back online and able to be used, and 96 percent of the rail network is back online. These are significant achievements and a tribute to the people of Queensland that they've been got done so quickly, but there is more to do and today I'm here with Andrew Fraser to announce what will happen next.
Firstly, to Grantham. We have Mayor Steve Jones here and Kathleen from Grantham, who's described her own personal journey, has described him as Australia's best Mayor today. He's been working hard with his community, with the Queensland Government, with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority to envisage a new future for Grantham - particularly, a new future where people move to higher ground. This is a remarkable vision and it is a tribute to the people of Grantham that it is being realised, that their town will be there but there will be people living in a safer place on higher ground.
I was very honoured at the Local Government Association's meeting in Canberra to meet with Steve Jones and to present to him the Grantham Flood Flag, which became for the Federal Parliament and Australians beyond the Federal Parliament a symbol of the devastation but also the courage Queensland showed during its summer of natural disasters.
I'm very pleased to be here today and able to announce that we will work with Steve and his community in the Strengthening Grantham Initiative. In partnership with the Queensland Government we will make available $18 million, and that $18 million will be used to support the building of new town infrastructure which can work alongside the new housing on higher ground to help with the creation of a new community.
In addition today, I'm here with the Acting Premier to make an announcement about further resources being made available to reconstruct roads in the south-west of Queensland and in the Darling Downs. Particularly, in those areas we will be making available $1.1 billion for further works that are necessary on flood-affected roads.
This will be divided so that South-West Queensland will receive $700 million for road reconstruction and repairs, and $435 million will go to roads in the Darling Downs. This will enable work to happen in the South-West that will reconstruct more than 1,000km of roads and that's going to boost local communities and particularly local jobs with over 1,500 jobs to be created. In the Darling Downs you will see 200km of roads across the region reconstructed with over 1,100 jobs being created in that region.
This will make a difference to economic activity in towns like Roma and St George, it will make a difference to places like the Southern Downs and Toowoomba and the Western Downs. It will go towards repairing roads including the Warrego Highway, there will be work on the Carnarvon, on the Castlereagh, on the Landsborough and Mitchell Highways.
This is an important new investment to get those roads up to the condition they need to be in, and I'm very pleased that we will be working with the Queensland Government on this in the spirit of partnership that we've brought to date to the necessary work to reconstruct Queensland.
I'll turn now to the Acting Premier for some comments.
ACTING PREMIER FRASER: Thanks Prime Minister, and thank you for coming to Queensland today and to visit the Reconstruction Authority and to visit the nerve centre and to talk to those staff who are working hard to conduct the reconstruction effort across Queensland.
Importantly, the announcement today about providing the $18 million jointly between us and the Federal Government to Grantham means that for those Grantham residents who are in the rebuilding phase, who are attempting to not only rebuild homes but rebuild lives, that's $18 million that won't reside on their rates bill into the future. The $18 million from the State and Federal government will meet the cost of that local government infrastructure to ensure that those new developments are taken place with funding from the State and Commonwealth to ensure that Grantham can take a step forward.
As the Mayor said earlier and we welcome his support for this project and indeed pay tribute to his leadership in that community and indeed across the Lockyer, as he said earlier some people are hoping to be in their homes by Christmas and it would a great thing if by Christmas time the hardest decision that some Grantham families have to make is where to put the Christmas tree. It's been a tough year for many people, it's been a particularly tough year for Grantham and what this means is potentially we've got people in their homes, in new homes by Christmas and I think that would be something that would not only be great for them but I think the whole of Queensland and the whole of Australia would like to see that come to pass.
PM: Thank you. So, happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with the reconstruction effort, this will be a long-term project as will Queensland's economic recovery. State election due in the next six months, do you have any concerns that a change of government might destabilise that process?
PM: It's not for me to comment on how Queenslanders want to vote in their state election, but I do want to say this: every step of the way we have worked in a very strong partnership with Premier Bligh and her team, including Treasurer Fraser, and that partnership has enabled us to come together to have an agreement which means resources have been able to flow in a timely way to do all of the work that is needed.
We understood in the very early days of flooding, even before we'd seen the damage of the cyclone, we understood then that this was going to be a long-term journey of recovery which was going to take a long-term partnership for us to get the job done, and we've been working side by side ever since, and I do want to say both to the Queensland Government and to the people who work here in this Reconstruction Authority, coming back from something as big as this was never going to be easy and there are so many continuing stories of personal hardship and distress, but a lot has been done very quickly and very efficiently. That's a tribute to the Queensland government, to local government leaders like Steve Jones, but also to the people who work here in this authority.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, last week the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry heard from several Mayors that said they wanted Federal assistance to buy back flood-prone properties. Will the Federal Government be helping them with that?
PM: We've made clear through the national partnership arrangement and the guidelines we operate to help the Federal Government and State Government and local governments work together in the face of natural disasters, the kinds of things that we will assist with. But we always want to collect the best of local views and local input, so we're always willing and I think Steve Jones, for example, as a local Mayor, would have seen us do this.
We're always willing to listen to what people have to say, but for the guidelines as to what we will fund, they are clear under the national partnership arrangement.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what are you planning to say today regarding Cabinet leaks when you meet?
PM: As Prime Minister I have worked to ensure that we have a proper system of Cabinet government. That comes with responsibilities and it comes with rights. It particularly comes with the right to participate in what should be free and frank discussions. That comes with the responsibility to keep those discussions confidential.
JOURNALIST: Do you know who the leaker is? Is it Kevin Rudd?
PM: Look, I'm not going to get involved in media scuttlebutt about any of this. Cabinet's confidential and it should be kept confidential.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that it hasn't been kept confidential?
PM: Well, clearly I believe that a proper Cabinet system of government is best. That means that we work through our Cabinet structures, our Cabinet committees and our Cabinet to make the decisions that the nation needs. Cabinet should be kept confidential.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Queensland roads - 92 per cent of them are fixed, but only to the point where their trafficable. Is there a possibility that in next year's budget the Federal Government will be looking at supplying more funding for the long-term project of getting roads back to the state they were, pre-summer?
PM: When we did the costings to inform how much money we needed to set aside in the budget and working out how much money we needed to set aside in the budget and working out how we were going to pay for that, we did that on the basis of bringing the roads up to the appropriate standard under the guidelines.
So, the guidelines for how we work together to repair roads is that they come back up to the standard they were before, or there is room for betterment, particularly if that's going to assist in the future if they face flooding in the future, so we've already factored and costed that in.
ACTING PREMIER FRASER: So there's two phases: one is to get roads obviously open as quickly as possible for the importance for communities and the economy; but then to go back and do the full rebuild, which is obviously what's going to take quite some time given that we're dealing with more than 9,000kms.
JOURNALIST: And that's about a 3-year time frame, is it?
ACTING PREMIER FRASER: That's correct. So, obviously out in the South-West in particular where a lot of the water was, roads don't like sitting under water and getting them up and running and replacing culverts is one thing, but going back and repairing the bases and the sub structure of roads is obviously something that takes a lot longer and for those of us who have been out there like you, you know that it's basically an ongoing task, it's like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, picking up on what you said before about leaks, obviously you'll set an example by not talking about any discussions you'll have in Cabinet, but outside of Cabinet, are you confident that your voice can be heard above all the other voices we have in the political debate, whether they be the Greens, any leakers, or Tony Abbott? How do you make sure your voice is the one that the Australian people hear?
PM: My view as Prime Minister is it's not about my voice so much as what I get done. I'll be content to be judged in the 2013 election on what I've achieved and during the course of this year we've worked hard to achieve decisions and implement them that will make a difference for the nation's future.
We're here talking today about rebuilding Queensland. Well, let me assure you getting the money to do that wasn't easy. We made bit cut backs, but we also decided that it was important to have the flood levy so that a contribution could be made, particularly by higher income earning Australians, and that was fought every step of the way. Mr Abbott and his team fought every step of the way to deny Queensland the money it would need to rebuild. Well, we delivered that.
And since then, of course, we've delivered the Health Agreement that I worked with Premier Bligh on to improve health services in this State and right around the nation. We delivered the budget, focused on skills and opportunity for the future with a huge mental health package because I was persuaded this was the area of health care that had been neglected for far too long.
We've continued to roll out the National Broadband Network. There's not going to be a State in the Commonwealth that's not going to get more benefit from this than the highly regionalised state of Queensland.
We've delivered carbon pricing. Once again there's not going to be a State in the Commonwealth that benefits more than Queensland with its incredibly high-quality sunshine, and whenever I come here Premier Bligh is always keen to describe it not just as a lot of sunshine but great quality sunshine for making clean energy.
These are all-important decisions for the nation's future and the future of this State, so I'll just keep getting on with the job and making sure that the future of this country is one of prosperity and opportunity that is shared.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) some people within your Cabinet seem to be more distracted by playing politics and leaks than actually doing, as you say, doing the job?
PM: Well, I've described to you my approach of doing the job and that Cabinet's confidential.
JOURNALIST: The Bureau of Meteorology has warned a wetter than usual - bad weather again this wet season and possible fires. Do you agree with the Government's decision not to draw down Wivenhoe Dam?
PM: Decisions about policies in relation to the dam are matters for the State Government, but I do know that the State Government has been taking a large number of steps to be engaged in a big provision of information to the people of Queensland so that they get ready and people understand what they can best do to prepare in view of likely weather conditions.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, there was a report a few weeks ago you're unable to ensure Queensland (inaudible) disasters. Is there a plan B? Perhaps enlisting the support of the Federal Government?
ACTING PREMIER FRASER: Well, as you would be aware we've got the Queensland Government Insurance Fund which provides the self insurance for the road network of Queensland, but as was in the public area at the time, going out there and getting re-insurance as opposed to insurance which we already have, getting re-insurance is something that obviously has to meet the market.
Now, going out there with a road network that stretches from here to London and back is a pretty different proposition to ensuring the network in other, smaller parts of the country. Obviously, there's not a market for that out there, but what the State's done is obviously look through the due diligence process, at all of that, to make sure that we've got sufficient provision in the Queensland government insurance fund to meet those costs into the future.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the (inaudible) of the Torres Strait are seeking autonomy. (Inaudible) Anna Bligh has written to you seeking your comments. What would you like to say to the people of the Torres Strait who are wanting autonomy?
PM: Well, I'll also get the Acting Premier to make a comment about this, but clearly this is a major decision that would change things for the people of the Torres Strait forever. It's a big, big change and as a big change it needs to be thought through and considered respectfully and in dialogue with local people. We obviously would need to have discussions between governments, but most importantly with local people about what their vision is for their future.
ACTING PREMIER FRASER: I think we should just say on this point that we're talking here about a very proud culture that goes back thousands and thousands of years and that's remained largely intact, and these are the legitimate aspirations of an indigenous people that represent one of the true enduring cultures that is part of our land, and these legitimate aspirations do have a place. It's obviously not going to happen overnight and that's why we're happy to talk to the community. We had a community cabinet - our last community cabinet was on the Torres Strait and obviously the community spoke very forcefully in favour of their legitimate aspirations and that's something that will take time but it needs to be led by the local community. Governments have a role to play in auspicing that conversation, but I note that the Federal Opposition Leader was up there yesterday practising his own unique form of politics, and I just say there's no real room for cheap, vapid politics when it comes to the legitimate aspirations of Torres Strait people. It seems to me that more and more the Federal Opposition Leader is just a sound bite looking for a cause, and I think on this issue alone he should take one step back and allow the people of the Torres Strait, the proud people that they are, to have their own voice in this debate.
PM: We'll definitely make this the last one, thank you.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) about to face opinion polls?
PM: Look, I'm here getting on with the things that matter. The commentators will write a million words about a million opinion polls between now and 2013. In 2013 I will be judged on what has been achieved for the Australian people and I'll be happy to be judged on that.
Thanks very much.