PM: It's a great delight to be here this morning to announce what I think is the best news for Brisbane and that is, in 2014 Brisbane will host the G20.
The G20 is the body that brings together the leaders of the 20 biggest economies in the world. It is now the premier forum for discussing issues in the global economy.
It was first brought together after the global financial crisis and the G20 is continuing to play a role in guiding the global economy towards stronger times and better days of growth.
This means that in 2014 Brisbane will see the President of the United States, the President of China, the President of Russia, the Prime Minister of India, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the President of Brazil, to name just a few, right here in Brisbane at the G20.
This is tremendous news for Brisbane; it does mean that Brisbane will see a large number of people converge here in November 2014.
Apart from the 20 world leaders who come together in the G20, there are associated business events and labour events bringing together the international trade union movement.
All up around 4,000 people will come to Brisbane for these events. Bringing together some of the leaders of the biggest businesses in the world.
You'll also see 3,000 of the world's media here, having their lenses trained on Brisbane, taking the images of this incredibly beautiful place to the world.
Directly into the Brisbane economy this will be an injection of a considerable amount of money.
We're talking about $20 million in hotel accommodation alone, around $30 million in all of the services that need to be sourced locally to make a major event like this happen.
And that's before you get to things like the associated tourism and retail benefits with so many people in town all at the same time.
This for Brisbane, I think, will be days when the Brisbane community will be able to say to itself very proudly that they are being showcased in front of the world.
For Queensland generally, we want to make sure that throughout Queensland people feel a connection to the G20 and see some of its benefits.
In the lead-up to the G20, Finance Ministers meet. That means Wayne Swan and his counterparts around the world come together to prepare for the G20 meeting. We will want to see that meeting hosted in a regional location in Queensland.
I'm very confident that in 2014 Brisbane will be there on the world stage, and I am also very confident that we will see 20 world leaders jet in but we will see 20 fully fledged Queenslanders fly out.
I am very happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: When in 2014 will it be held?
PM: It'll be 15 and 16 November.
JOURNALIST: How much will it cost?
PM: Well the Commonwealth has allocated $370 million for the costs of the G20.
It is expensive to host because of all the associated arrangements including security arrangements for an event this large. But it's very important for the global economy, it means Australia has a special ability to stamp its mark on the G20 and stamp our mark on the future direction of the global economy, good for business to have global business leaders here coming to Australia, and of course direct injections into the Queensland economy.
JOURNALIST: Do you think Queenslanders will see that as money well spent given at the moment 20,000 public servants are being sacked up here?
PM: Well this is Federal Government funds, about the 20,000 public servants you'll have to direct that to Premier Newman.
JOURNALIST: Why Brisbane, what got Brisbane across the line?
PM: Well Brisbane was selected; we asked cities around the nation to put bids forward to host this important event.
Brisbane was selected because you've got the right facilities with your convention centre here.
You've got the right ability to deal with the logistics of such a big event.
Brisbane airport, the new Airport Link, all of these things meant Brisbane's bid was the stand-out for this event.
Of course that does mean that other cities are disappointed not to be able to host the G20. But I do believe that it's important that when we put Australia's face to the world that face is one of a number of world-class cities in our nation and Brisbane is certainly a world-class city.
JOURNALIST: Sydney says it's the only world city, what's your view on that?
PM: Well the G20 will be here, a huge world event, right in Brisbane.
JOURNALIST: Will it shut Brisbane down for those two days?
PM: There will need to be arrangements to deal with security, and I think just from a commonsense perspective everyone would understand that.
I mean we're talking about leaders like the President of the United States being here so of course security arrangements will need to be made.
We've got two years, or over two years to prepare and I'm sure that the Brisbane community will want to do what they've done in the past with big international events. You'll see people wanting to volunteer and get involved.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair to say this'll be Australia's biggest ever security operation? I mean, giving what's happened since the Sydney Olympics, the world has changed quite significantly.
PM: This will be a huge security operation, I mean we're talking about the leaders of the 20 biggest economies in the world, accounting for around 85 per cent of everything the world produces; people who come with security arrangements like the President of the United States comes with.
That's why when we've allocated money federally we have allocated $370 million because security arrangements do have to be up to the mark.
JOURNALIST: Has Campbell Newman indicated how much money the State Government will kick in?
PM: We'll work in partnership with Premier Newman. We'll be looking to Queensland to assist with Queensland Police. I've spoken to Premier Newman about that personally and I am sure we'll be able to work in a great partnership to get this done.
JOURNALIST: It wasn't so long ago that this river here was steaming. What does it say about Brisbane's rebirth to be hosting the G20 a couple of years later?
PM: Well I did come precisely to this spot during the days of the floods and it was a remarkable sight as we saw some of those huge things coming adrift and floating down the river and all of the concerns that the Brisbane community and right across Queensland people faced then.
This is a city that showed in those dark days a remarkable spirit of pulling together. This is a city that I think can show a great spirit of goodwill towards the world through the G20.
So it's exciting to come from those days of real despair to looking forward to a huge event of this global significance.
JOURNALIST: A regional city for the Finance Ministers, what do you think of Cairns?
PM: Well look we're not in a position to announce the city yet. Some work has to be done. But there are a number of places across Queensland that can be considered.
JOURNALIST: Will it only be Queensland?
PM: Yes, the city for the Finance Ministers' meeting will be in Queensland.
JOURNALIST: What will Brisbane look like for that two days? Will there be choppers up with the Defence Force, five metre high fences throughout the city, what will it look like do you think?
PM: Well look, we've got to lock in all the in detail arrangements. We're talking about a meeting that is more than two years away but, yes, people will see considerable security arrangements and I think people will understand that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do we have enough hotels to support everyone
PM: We as part of the assessment of Brisbane's bid did an assessment of hotels and we're satisfied that the city can accommodate an event of these dimensions otherwise we wouldn't have gone the tick to Brisbane.
JOURNALIST: Do you think you'll be attending as Prime Minister in 2014?
PM: Well that's for the Australian people to decide in 2013.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on another topic. Business leader Don Argus says there's little leadership across both parties at the moment here in Australia.
Do you have any response to that?
PM: I've seen Mr Argus's comments this morning and he obviously worries about complacency and he worries about the future for our nation's children and grandchildren.
Can I say very clearly, I am by no means complacent and every day we seeking to build a future for our nation's children and grandchildren. That's why we've invested in so many long-term policies and plans.
Some of them controversial like carbon pricing to make sure we get a clean energy future. Many of them big projects like the National Broadband Network to make sure we've got the technology of the future. Our investments in education to make sure we've got the skills of the future.
I don't take anything for granted about our place in the world. We've got to earn our stripes every day in this growing region and that's why as a Government we focus so much on shaping that future and building a stronger and fairer future for all of us.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, who put in a bid for the G20 here in Brisbane, was it the State Government or was it the City Council or was it a combination of both?
PM: It was a Federal Government to State Government dialogue. We asked leaders around the nation, State Government leaders, Territory leaders, to put forward proposals to host the G20.
There are only so many places of sufficient size and scale in our nation. So the State Government scale in our nation. So the State Government, the then Bligh Government, originally said that they were interested and when Premier Newman came to office I spoke to him about the matter personally and he has said Queensland is still very interested and that is why we're here today.
JOURNALIST: So today when he says we don't think we have that much money to kick in, is he going back on what he said to you previously?
PM: Look we'll work in a partnership here. We're obviously prepared to make the arrangements for this to go off well, for Queensland and for Australia, and I'm sure Premier Newman's prepared to do the same.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have anything to say to the Sydneysiders who I understand are really disappointed today that they missed out?
PM: Look, I can understand a sense of disappointment but we could only make this happen for one city.
When we looked at the comparative bids and the ability of a city to host this event, Sydney was in a situation where its main convention facility was actually out of action for the critical time period. It is having long standing scheduled renovations so that meant Sydney was trying to cater around that, that its principle convention facility was out of action. And then of course there were some concerns about the restrictions at Sydney Airport which is under a lot of day-to-day pressure.
Here in Brisbane, your major convention facility is in fantastic nick and was ready to be swung into full operation for this event and the airport, with the new Airport Link is in a position to deal with the pressure that will come with so many world leaders all arriving in quite a compressed window of time and then leaving in quite a compressed window of time as well.
I also do think it gives a great opportunity to say to the world that we are a nation of many world-class cities. Brisbane is one of them and for the rest of their lives it does mean that people like the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of India, the President of China will be able to say to people, ‘I went to Brisbane'.
They will recall their days here, their time here and feel a sense of connection with this great place.
Thank you very much.