PM: I'm here today with local member Shayne Neumann. Bernie Ripoll has been with us but has had to leave to go to another engagement, and I'm spending time today with the community in Ipswich and Goodna and here with the SES that did so much amazing work during the days of the flooding here.
I remember what it was like here 12 months ago. I came in and met with people in evacuation centres. I saw the way the water was devastating this community, but I also saw a tremendous spirit of pulling together.
I remember, for example, with Shayne visiting a local church that had become very quickly an evacuation centre for frail aged people, and it was taking its toll to give that kind of intensive care to elderly Australians very quickly, was a huge effort. But the community was standing by and doing things like delivering bedding and towels to help out. That really spoke to me about how this community was going to pull together even in the toughest of times.
Today we've watched the Pillar of Courage unveiled. It tells us not only the history of the flooding of this region but the history of this region's resilience, including in the face of what happened here 12 months ago.
And then I did want to come and meet with the local SES and beyond. We've got people from the Gold Coast, from beyond the local area, but meet with people who just got out there and got the job done when the going was at its toughest.
We've just been inside sharing a sandwich and one of the local police officers said to me, and I'm going to borrow his words, these are the people who just don't flinch - who when it's really hard get out there and get the job done, and it's a very special privilege for me to have the opportunity to say a personal thanks to them here today.
I'm very happy to take any questions.
Did you want to say, Shayne, just some words about your local community first?
NEUMANN: Well, on behalf of myself and Bernie Ripoll we want to thank the SES, the police, the rural fire brigades and everyone who's done everything they could during the flood.
We thought we'd have a sandwich because we thought eating a meal together is a very human thing to do and it's what people during the flood actually did. Sandwiches and sausages - it wasn't just support and solace, sandwiches and sausages helped people get through.
So I want thank, Ari, you and the team and the four units and the group leaders as well for the wonderful work they did during the flood. They showed tremendous resilience, commitment and determination at this time, and since that time they've continued to work and so we honour you and we are privileged to represent you in Federal Parliament. On behalf of myself and Bernie Ripoll - thank you very much to the men and women, and you have my gratitude and applause, well done.
[APPLAUSE]
PM: Thank you. We're happy to take questions. Yes?
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: Sure.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: I think it's very important that when we're developing coal seam gas we're guided by the best possible science, which is why the Federal Government has determined that we will use our scientific leadership to work with States including Queensland to answer all of the questions that people understandable ask about coal seam gas.
We've got to make sure we get the balance here between using a resource which is very valuable to us whilst getting the environmental standards right, so we're going to bring our scientific leadership to bear, we're going to ensure that there is good science that's transparently available to local communities to inform decision making about where coal seam gas will be gathered from and we're going to lead through a Council of Australian Governments process - best practice around the country, including here in Queensland.
Now, ultimately planning decisions are overwhelmingly in the province of state governments and we're not intending to step in and take that role over, but we are intending to do what the Commonwealth does and does well - scientific leadership and coordination of states.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when will your Government act on the recommendations from its insurance review?
PM: We've acted on a large number of recommendations from the insurance review. Particularly, we've acted on the recommendations about transparency and about making sure that there is a standard clause to define flooding.
What we learned after the events here, and across Queensland and indeed in other parts of the nation, is that floods were defined very differently in different insurance policies. Indeed, it was 10 times more flood claims subject of disputation than claims about cyclones or bushfires or hail stones, so it was a vexed area. Many people thought they were covered and they weren't covered.
We wanted to sort that out. I was very concerned about that and very concerned about the performance of insurance companies in response to floods here in Queensland. I remember, for example, the community meeting you had where not one representative of an insurance company turned up to face the music. So, we've worked to bring a standard definition of flood to insurance policies and that's before the parliament now.
We've worked to make sure that people get transparent, easy-to-understand information about what their policy provides so that when they're shopping for a policy they can do an apples-to-apples comparison.
Now, I know that there are some recommendations still under consideration. There is one, for example, by a gentleman who's been a good advisor to the Federal Government on floods. He's come up with what is a fairly novel proposal about how we could deal with insurance for the less than two percent of people who live in the most risky, flood-prone areas. Now, it is a novel suggestion. We are canvassing views on it. I am concerned that we've got to make sure we're getting value for taxpayers and I think people will want to express a view about whether it's the best use of taxpayer's money to use that money to give to insurance companies.
JOURNALIST: Will you issue a report card in much the same way that Anna Bligh did on the floods commission of inquiry on how your performance is going with bringing in the recommendations?
PM: On the commission of inquiry, we've taken exactly the same approach as Premier Bligh. On the recommendations that were either wholly directed at the Commonwealth or partially directed at the Commonwealth, we've responded to all of those recommendations and I'm very happy to be held to account for it.
On the recommendations from the insurance group, we're very happy to be completely transparent about that and indeed I think you'll find we have been.
JOURNALIST: Another Japanese whaling boat has entered Australian territorial waters. Do you think that's acceptable?
PM: Well I think we've just got to be clear about the facts here. As recently as yesterday we reiterated our view to the Japanese Government that whaling vessels are not welcome in Australian territorial waters. Now I'm aware that there has been on vessel which I'm advised has been in Australian territorial waters and I'm advised that it will leave Australian territorial waters.
Now, it's been a long standing view that whaling ships are not welcome in our waters, and we've said that to the Japanese Government before but we've reiterated it yesterday.
JOURNALIST: How do you plan to resolve it, I mean clearly legal action is worthy?
PM: We're in a circumstance now where on my advice to the ship in question is leaving Australian territorial waters.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of Senator Brown's decision to boycott a weekly meeting with you?
PM: As Prime Minister I'm available to meet with Members of Parliament and I meet with them very regularly from right across the Parliament. People value the opportunity for a meeting to raise their concerns directly with me.
For example, Shayne is no stranger to getting on the phone, getting on the text, and knocking on the door to make sure that he has his community's concerns heard by me. So, I make myself available. Whether Senator Brown wants to take up that opportunity is entirely a matter for him.
Senator Brown has taken a different view from me about the forestry questions in Tasmania. We have responded to a circumstance where market conditions have changed, where Gunns indicated it was leaving the market. That was going to leave workers out of jobs without any assistance, it was going to leave contractors bankrupt without any assistance, and it was unclear what the long-term future of the forests would be.
We've stepped in to support workers, to support contractors who are exiting the industry and to work towards the verification of more than 570,000 hectares of area so that we can get agreements about preservation of these important sections for the future, and what needs preservation will be determined by an independent expert, by Professor Jonathon West.
So that's the process we're going through. I understand Senator Brown's got a different view. That's a matter for him.
JOURNALIST: In regards to the underpaid retail workers in the retail sector, is this a mistake or are retailers (inaudible)?
PM: People need to abide by the law and pay their workers properly. I understand there was an issue with some Fair Work Australia information which has been corrected, and obviously someone who has been misled by that information and didn't intend to do anything wrong has go my complete sympathy. I understand they've probably done their best to do the right thing.
But I think we all know that there are industries in our nation where workers are at risk and we need to make sure that they are getting paid properly which is why we've got the systems that we've set up under Fair Work Australia.
When we got rid of Work Choices one of the reasons we did it was all of the evidence was telling us that it was young people, it was women in occupations like retail and hospitality, who were most likely to do it tough and more likely to lose their penalty rates for not a cent of compensation or lose their public holidays for not a cent of compensation.
We thought that was wrong. I still think it's wrong. That's why we support the Fair Work system and we will be doing everything in our power to resist the Abbott plan to bring Work Choices back.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you think it's disappointing that Tony Abbott has chosen to go on holidays rather than come to flood commemoration services?
PM: Mr Abbott's holiday arrangements are a matter for him and I'm not intending to issue any comment on it.
JOURNALIST: Just something else -
PM: -Sorry, Sally's trying to round us up. We'll go one here and one there and then we'll go.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) taxpayers of the financial benefits (inaudible)?
PM: I think we've got to be very clear here about what the Government's trying to achieve. The automotive industry is incredibly important to this country. Manufacturing is important to this country. It's the source of good jobs, high-quality jobs and it isn't just what happens in the car factory - it's all of the supply chains that lead to it and flow from it that keep people in good-quality jobs and work.
And so we have worked with our big car makers to keep the car industry here. We did that during the days of the global financial crisis and I'm determined to do it again because it is the right thing for our nation as we undergo this resources boom, to make sure that in the days beyond the boom we've still got a strong manufacturing sector.
Now we've been guided by work including the Steve Bracks review, and of course when we make agreements with car makers the car industry is required to put its money on the table too, and that is a feature of the agreement that we've struck with Ford and we are working in the same way with Holden.
What disturbs me is when we've got work to do to keep making sure that the car industry is in the country, that on the other side of politics Mr Abbott's plan is to rip half a billion dollars out of industry support, and today his spokesperson has been questioning the value of what the Government's trying to achieve.
Well, I'll tell you what we're trying to achieve - we're trying to achieve manufacturing jobs for Australian workers.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) says you're a reliable source of (inaudible).
PM: Unfortunately I'd be letting him down today. I'm not always a carrier of lollies but during the course of those long days when we were out and about talking to people in evacuation centres and all around the community, either I started the day with some in my bag or inevitably during the course of the day some kind soul would give me some jelly beans or some snakes or something to take with me, so I think that's also telling you about the spirit that was going on as we did all of the work in the aftermath of the floods here.
Thank you very much.
Oh look, now I feel sad for you - yes?
JOURNALIST: Is it case of you not having (inaudible)?
PM: I presume you're relating that to the question about Senator Brown and whether or not he wants to take the opportunities for meetings. My answer would have been the same if you'd asked me this time last year.
Thanks very much.
[ENDS]