PM: I'm here in Korea for the Nuclear Security Summit. I have had the opportunity this morning to meet with some Korean students, online using broadband talking to students in Australia so that's been a special pleasure but my purpose for being here in Korea is to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.
This is an important meeting bringing together more than 50 countries. It follows on the first Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. The purpose of this summit is to bring leaders together to discuss how we can better secure nuclear material. Nuclear security is a major challenge for our world. We want to make sure that nuclear material never falls into the wrong hands. We know that there are terrorist groups who have said that they want to acquire nuclear material for a so called dirty bomb.
Indeed we know that Bin Laden, when he was alive, described the getting of nuclear material as a religious duty. As a result of the work that's already been done through this Nuclear Security Summit process, it would be difficult for terrorists to access nuclear material. But it's not impossible and we cannot be complacent given how extreme the consequences would be of a terrorist dirty bomb.
So, over today and tomorrow I will be working with representatives of other countries to further deliver on the nuclear security agenda. Australia has a good track record on nuclear security; indeed the non government organisation, the Nuclear Threat Initiative assessed us as being right up there in the world in terms of our security protocols. We are also as a nation working on things like the use of lower grade uranium for medical purposes and we are a world leader in the forensic technology that helps you detect illicit nuclear material.
I will be dealing with these questions over the coming meeting today and tomorrow but the importance of Australia being here I think is obvious, given the challenge that securing nuclear material presents for the world. If I can address one other matter and then I'll take questions on my visit to Korea and when we have finished those questions I'll be happy to take questions about the Queensland election.
I just wanted to say too that the purpose of the summit is not to address issues associated with North Korea but of course it's inevitable as countries gather in Seoul that in the margins of this Nuclear Security Summit there will be discussions about North Korea, indeed President Obama and President Lee of Korea addressed these questions yesterday.
North Korea has announced its intention to launch a so called satellite using missile technology. This is in breach of UN Security Council resolutions; it's in breach of an agreement struck very recently with the United States. My message and the message of many leaders here will no doubt be that North Korea needs to take a step back from this proposed launch, it needs to abide by UN Security Council resolutions and it needs to abide by its agreement with the US struck as recently as the 29th of February this year.
I'll take questions on the trip first and then when we've done that we'll move to questions on the Queensland election. We'll go one, two and then three, yes you.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) Should Australians be concerned and if North Korea doesn't desist from this presumably some consequences have to apply what do you think should be the consequences?
PM: The missile is being launched south. The advice to me is that for there to be any issues to Australia, the missile would have to break up very late in its flight and if it did break up very late in its flight then the junk that came from the break up would burn off as it entered the atmosphere so the advice to me is that there is only the lowest potential risk that any debris would reach Australia.
On consequences, as President Obama made clear with President Lee yesterday we would be talking about the further isolation of a regime which is already very isolated.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, at this meeting you said it will be discussed on the sidelines, do you plan to talk to other world leaders, particularly China, and ask them to try and as you say rein in North Korea?
PM: Well certainly in my many meetings across the international events that I have attended when I have talked to other leaders, North Korea - security on the Korean peninsula - has been one of the issues I have very regularly raised and in my bilateral discussions here in Seoul, I would be raising it too. I do not have a formal bilateral discussion scheduled with China at this meeting.
JOURNALIST: Should China though call for them to stop the launch?
PM: Look, I believe countries around the world - all countries - should be using their mechanisms and endeavours to put the message very strongly to North Korea that it needs to step back from this proposed launch of a so called satellite using missile technology.
JOURNALIST: PM, will you be raising the issue with Ban Ki-moon this afternoon and will you also be raising the issue of East Timor with Ban Ki-moon, withdrawing troops from East Timor?
PM: I will be speaking to the United Nations Secretary General and I will intend to raise issues associated with security on the Korean peninsula and the UN mission in East Timor both are certainly on the list.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, does the North Koreans' launch plans dash hopes that there might have been a change direction under the new leader?
PM: Well, certainly following the leadership transition I suppose, the best analysis that we can come to is that the question is unsettled. I mean there was one sign in a positive direction with the entry into the agreement with the United States obviously with food aid on the table which is very much needed.
As we understand it by people in Korea and commitments given, only then having seen that positive sign, to then see this very negative and contradictory sign announcing this so called satellite launch with the use of missile technology. So I think the position so far in terms of analysing the direction of the regime following the leadership transition, the best we can say is that the signs are very contradictory and the position looks unsettled.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, these groups like al-Qaida presumably they have to get these weapons from somewhere and that could be states. How can we be sure that exported Australian uranium isn't freeing up other stocks of uranium to go into nuclear weapons?
PM: If I can just deal with the premise of your question. I mean on nuclear security, what is being guarded against is theft of nuclear material, whether it's in transit or whether it's being used associated with peaceful purposes, but the theft of material or technologies that would assist with putting together a dirty bomb. So the frame here is not just willing sales which seems to be what's behind your question. The frame here is obviously the full gamut of security how you keep nuclear material, nuclear know- how, nuclear technology secured.
For Australian uranium we enter into very rigorous safeguards agreements on Australian uranium as we export it and we will continue to do so and I do remind, understanding that we are a uranium exporting nation, that we are viewed as having a very good track record on nuclear security questions.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: Look the issue of North Korea is a difficult one. I'm not going to stand here and pretend to any of you that there is some simple remedy to this, if there were some simple remedy then the world would have struck it a long time ago.
We have a very isolated regime. We have a regime that maintains itself through the use of rigorous suppression of its people. We have a regime that can be full of contradictory signs and those contradictory signs have continued even past the leadership transition but we do need now at this point to be saying that North Korea needs to step back from its announced intention and that it does risk even being further isolated.
Clearly as recently as the 29th of February when its struck the agreement with the United States it saw some merits in coming forward a little, striking an agreement and receiving some food aid in response.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: Our understanding of the state of play in Korea is that they are not at the stage where technology-wise they could create a device, miniaturise a device, have a delivery system that would get a device to a target around the world. So I don't think we want to be raising more fear and more apprehension than is necessary. Clearly any conduct by North Korea that is about using missile technology and this launch of a so called satellite that uses missile technology - that is a development we don't want to see which is why I have made it clear what Australia's position is, but you shouldn't leap from that to the next stage because that's not right.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that the announcement of the satellite launch has anything to do with the fact that this conference is happening in Seoul this week?
PM: Oh look, I couldn't possibly answer that for you, I couldn't diagnose cause and effect for you like that.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: Look I don't want to pretend that I can understand the motivations of the North Korean regime.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what messages are there for you and for federal Labor (Inaudible)?
PM: Look I'm happy to take that question but just make sure we have done all questions about being in Korea first okay. Karen.
JOURNALIST: What message is there for you and Labor in the election results?
PM: If I could say a few things about the Queensland election result. First, I rang Campbell Newman on Saturday night to congratulate him on his election win and I look forward to working with him as Premier of Queensland. We've a lot of great things that we can work together on for the benefit of the people of Queensland.
For Anna Bligh I do also want to say that clearly I have spoken to her privately and I spoke to her on Saturday night. Anna Bligh is a woman of real capacity. She is a woman with a great heart. She is a very proud Queenslander, she loves Queensland and I think we saw that love of Queensland very much on display when she lead Queensland during the dark days of the floods and cyclone.
She is also a woman who very much loves her family and her engagement in public life has taken her away from her family for a long period of time and I know that she will look forward to spending time with them.
On the future and message from all of this, I'm a Labor person so obviously to see an election loss like that for Labor is a deep, deep disappointment to me. We have seen Queensland Labor govern Queensland for 20 of the last 22 years. Queensland Labor has got many achievements to be proud of across those two decades but the people of Queensland have not only spoken a message to Queensland Labor, indeed they've shouted it, and that message needs to be respected.
And so for Queensland Labor it will be about listening to that message and getting out and about in the community forging the community bonds and links and renewing Labor in Queensland.
For the federal government, inevitably whilst elections turn on their own issues and own questions, inevitably there will be discussions about what are the implications for federal Labor, I understand that.
Since I first became Prime Minister during the days of the 2010 election and beyond, I've never underestimated the degree of challenge for federal Labor, I don't underestimate it now. We've got a lot of hard work to do, a lot of hard to for the people of Queensland and with the people of Queensland.
Ultimately, the 2013 will be decided on its own issues. We will go into that election having governed standing up for working people not for the interest of a privileged few, having governed to deliver on a plan for this nation's future and seeking a renewed mandate to continue delivering on that plan. Having governed to create prosperity today in the economy, we will need so that people can have prosperity tomorrow and we will go to that 2013 election talking about else we need do to construct that future economy.
So people will make their decisions then. For us, it's about doing what I believe I have done as Prime Minister and I am certainly going to continue doing so which is knuckling down, getting on with the job on the behalf of working people, managing the economy in their interest and to the benefits of their families.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) Were you taking the advice of your own MPs who were saying that you must now spend more time in Queensland? I think they said you should know the names of every footballer in Queensland, not just the Bulldogs. And that there was even a suggestion that you should buy a house and live in Queensland. I mean, this is coming from your own side about your future.
PM: There, there will be any amount of discussion on all of this and that's understandable. For me, it's about governing in the interests of the people of Queensland and the interests of all Australians.
What I believe Australians want to see from their Government and what I seek to provide as Prime Minister is the leadership necessary to manage the economy in their interest today. People want to have jobs, they want to have the prospect of getting a better job, they want to be able to open a small business if that's their desire they want know that the government is standing alongside managing the economy in their interest so they can have those opportunities.
At this time in our history, people want to see the benefits of the resources boom shared, they want to see those benefits delivered so that you create more jobs and prosperity in the future. They want to see us working alongside working families whether its tax cuts, pension increases, which obviously will be delivered by the government. Whether it's better schools, better hospitals they want to see us getting that done and we will continue to work on those things.
JOURNALIST: Will you address the question of broken promises? Some of Queensland, a lot of Queensland thinks this is about asset sales, being a broken promise and you obviously have an issue with a broken promise on a carbon tax. Is there anything you can say to the Australian people about broken promises (Inaudible)?
PM: Look, I've said this before but I am happy to say it again, when I said those words during the 2010 election campaign I meant every one of them. Then in the circumstances of this Parliament I needed to make a choice as to whether our nation would seize a clean energy future or let the opportunity go by. And there is no place in the country that stands to better prosper in a clean energy future than Queensland because of its natural assets and natural advantages.
So, I have acted in the national interest to get a benefit for the nation through a clean energy future, and also to deliver practical benefits for families today in the form of tax cuts and family payment increases and increases in the pension.
JOURNALIST: So Prime Minister will you rule out any changes to the structure of the carbon tax between now and the next election?
PM: No, the carbon tax will be implemented exactly as legislated.
JOURNALIST: Will you accept that both you and Anna Bligh, there is a perception that voters don't trust you and that is something that you have to turn around if you don't want to have the same result in the 2013 election?
PM: Well I am happy now and in the 2013 election to say ‘who do you trust to manage the economy in the interest of working people, who do you trust to understand the needs of the future and the building of that future economy, who do you trust to spread the benefits of the mining boom to make sure that they are shared by all Australians, who do you trust to improve your local schools and local hospitals?'
I'll be very happy to continue governing on the basis that we are doing those things because they matter to Australians today and to Australians of tomorrow.
On the other side of politics, people are being invited number one to believe the next election doesn't matter at all. Tony Abbott has basically been conducting himself as if he's got the next election in the bag, doesn't matter, you know, letting Australians have a vote, Tony Abbott's response to that is ‘who cares he's going to win, he's got the it in the bag, he doesn't have to think about Australians, you know he doesn't worry about them, he's just, you know, is already announcing to the world he's going to be the next elected prime minister.'
So his attitude is he's got it in the bag, his attitude is he doesn't have to say anything except no to everything to get there.
On our side of politics, as a government, we are driven by managing the economy today so that it benefits working people not a privileged few and that is a struggle in the Parliament because of the advocacy by Tony Abbott and his friends of the interests of a privileged few. We are about creating the future economy which means people have got an even better opportunity to get ahead tomorrow in tomorrow's economy and of course we are about delivering the benefits working families need. We've done that, we've done it consistently and we've got more to do.
Big reforms like the national disability insurance scheme, and I am never going to be someone who says to the Australian people ‘pretend change isn't happening, pretend you don't have to do anything to shape the future.' That is Tony Abbott's game. My message to the Australian people is sometimes we have to do really hard things to shape the future and carbon pricing, clean energy future was part of that, a really hard thing, but is going to give our nation a better future.
JOURNALIST: Were federal issues a factor in the Queensland election?
PM: Look the Queensland election, I mean Queenslanders will answer this question for themselves, but I think when you look at the material in the Queensland election, the days of campaigning during the Queensland election, what was said by the political leaders, Anna and Campbell as they contested that election, the fight was overwhelmingly on state issues. There was clearly a major “it's time” factor after Labor having been in government for so long.
JOURNALIST: What about the leadership challenge between you and Mr Rudd?
PM: Sorry, I'll go here and then come back.
JOURNALIST: Where you surprised by the extent of the wipe out of Labor in Queensland? Did you expect something like this?
PM: I think the expectations were that Labor was going to be defeated and soundly defeated. I think, you know, the dimensions of the defeat don't really settle on you until you can see the numbers come up on the TV screen. Sky's coverage, ABC 24's coverage. So yes, you know, the dimensions of this defeat took me by a bit of surprise on Saturday night. And Labor in Queensland, State Labor, we've got a lot of rebuilding to do. We've got a lot of hard work to do and I'll get on and do it.
JOURNALIST: Graham Richardson says that Queensland voters feel something akin to, or are verging towards hatred for you, suggesting this state result will flow over into a federal context. What do you think of that comment and his contribution?
PM: Look, I'm not going to go commentator by commentator. I'll put my own views that I have.
JOURNALIST: I just wanted to ask how you feel about Labor losing its party status in Queensland as a result of the poll and that Campbell Newman may not now have an effective opposition.
PM: Look, these are things for the Queensland Parliament and for its arrangements.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just one other issue, you mentioned inside how moved you were when you brought veterans here to Korea. There is a report by the Department of Veterans Affairs out today that's based on a survey of Australians about their feelings about Anzac Day. And it finds that people are saying increasingly that it's a day for partying, for drunkenness, it's lost its meaning, it's got no meaning for newer Australians. Do you think we need to reclaim Anzac Day or what do you think about the way we mark Anzac Day?
PM: I completely disagree with all of the conclusions of that report. As a local Member of Parliament, as Prime Minister, I've had the opportunity to see what Anzac Day means to Australians. I've had the opportunity in the electorate which returns me to the Federal Parliament, in Melbourne's west, I've had the opportunity to see the crowds grow for our local commemorations of Anzac Day.
I've had the conversations with people who were there waiting to have the Dawn Service often, in Melbourne, huddled in extreme cold waiting for the dawn service and to talk to them. And I've had people say to me things like, I'll say, ‘You are here with your young daughter, what brought you here today? And the father will say to me, “Well she did. She was the one who was absolutely insistent that we come. You know, I wasn't intending to come but she basically begged and said, ‘Dad, we've got to go to the Dawn Service.”
And so, when you see that kind of enthusiasm and embrace, by our youngest Australians, for commemorating Anzac Day, and for what it means to them, then I think we can say as a nation it's an important part of our national identity.
I actually think our degree of attachment to it is growing over time, not lessening over time, and I think as we move to the 100 year commemoration there will certainly be a greater sense of attachment and marking and interest in the history, than there has been for a long period of time. The degree of attachment to Anzac Day I believe is greater now by young people than when I was a small child and I think that's a fantastic thing to see.
PM: Sally is trying to whisk us off so we can stay on time, but, alright, we'll do one on broadband and one here.
JOURNALIST: I think it might be the same question.
PM: Okay.
JOURNALIST: The Chinese tech company Huawei has been told it can't invest in the NBN. Can you explain why and why it doesn't damage our reputation as a good place to invest?
PM: The National Broadband Network is a huge infrastructure project. I mean it's bigger than the Snowy Mountains Scheme. It's the infrastructure project that our nation needs today. You would expect as a Government that we'd make all of the prudent decisions to make sure that that infrastructure project does what we want it to do and we've taken one of those decisions.
Thanks very much.