Canberra
E & O E - PROOF ONLY
PM: The Council of Australian Governments meeting has just concluded. The most important item for discussion at this meeting was the launch site arrangements for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I am in a position to announce that there has been an agreement between the Federal Government, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT on hosting launch sites.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is the vision we need for this country to overcome a fundamental unfairness. At the moment your chance of getting assistance if you have a disability depends on how you got that disability, and it depends on where you live.
People who've acquired their disability, say, in a worker's accident will get worker's compensation. But for someone who was born with a profound disability, acquires it by an accident that didn't happen at work or didn't happen through a motor vehicle, or maybe diving into a river or some other sort of accident, or people who get a debilitating disease and acquire a disability, these people do not get appropriate support.
We've described this as a cruel lottery because that's exactly what it is. Your chances of getting help and care depended on how you acquired your disability and where you live. As a Labor Government we have been determined to address this unfairness. We asked the Productivity Commission to guide us, and they recommended a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
I have worked with my state and territory colleagues on this vision of a National Disability Insurance Scheme. The next step towards this vision of fairness is launch sites. Making sure that around the country we see people better assisted than they are now, making sure that in different circumstances around the country we are best able to assess what the full model of the scheme should look like.
That is, we can learn by doing, we can learn by helping people who have a disability. I am pleased that we will see three launch sites go ahead; in South Australia for young people, in Tasmania for adolescents and in the entire region of the ACT. Each of these jurisdictions stepped forward and was prepared to put money on the table. Each of these jurisdictions stepped forward and was prepared to work with the Commonwealth under agreed governance arrangements.
The Federal Government made the really tough decisions it needed to in the last budget so that a billion dollars is available for launch sites.
I am very disappointed that we have not been able today to strike an agreement with either New South Wales or Victoria, or indeed Western Australia on hosting a launch site. I do note that in Western Australia Premier Barnett has recently led a new disability initiative called My Way, and we will be working with Western Australia to learn what we can from this new initiative My Way, and the way in which it is assisting people with disabilities.
I am disappointed that for Victoria and New South Wales, we were not able to reach agreement today. An agreement with New South Wales would mean that 10,000 people in the Hunter region would have benefited from the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It means 5,000 people in the Barwon region of Victoria would have benefited from the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The Commonwealth contribution to these launches would have been around $300 million in New South Wales, and $100 million in Victoria.
Unfortunately neither New South Wales nor Victoria was able to step forward with some relatively small amounts of additional financing to make these launches possible. We will continue to work with these jurisdictions in the hope of seeing change because I do find it disappointing that there will be people with disabilities in those regions tonight who will go to bed uncertain rather than knowing that they will be the subject of a launch site arrangement, and that they will see change and improvement in the care in which they receive.
In addition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, COAG today has discussed the question of construction costs. COAG has agreed to a review to be led by three people; a panel of reviewers.
There is concern in a number of jurisdictions about cost drivers in construction. We are seeing productivity improvements in construction, but there are concerns about costs. We are a nation that is seeing rapid development in resources sector and beyond, and consequently that review has been agreed to and will be undertaken.
There's been agreement too that each of us is concerned about the escalation in electricity prices arising from the investments that we are seeing in poles and transmission. That is, if you like, the hardware of the system. It is certainly true that the biggest cost driver for households and their electricity costs for families, for small businesses, is the costs arising because of the investments into poles and transmission.
As the nation's leaders, we have said we are concerned about that cost escalation for families and for small businesses, and we have urged our energy ministers to ensure that their work is squarely aimed at improving the deal that customers get.
Then finally, whilst we have worked though some other areas including on the seamless national economy and better arrangements for business, finally we also dealt with the item of Royal Succession. We have been asked by the United Kingdom, we have been asked particularly by Prime Minister Cameron to review the way in which Royal Succession works in this country.
Prime Minister Cameron at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth made it very clear that he wants to achieve arrangements where the succession in the Royal Family does not have gender discrimination associated with it, nor discrimination against Catholics. In order to achieve that, countries like Australia need to act. We are all united in saying that we do want to act to achieve that result.
Can I thank my colleagues for their participation during today's talks and last night's discussions. I'll turn now to the Premier of South Australia, who is the Chair of the Council of the Australian Federation.
PREMIER WEATHERILL: Thank you Prime Minister.
People with disabilities, their carers and their families have been advocating for many years for more services to assist them. In many cases we're talking about families and people with disabilities that have reached a level of desperation which has meant that they have regularly advocated their propositions to their elected representatives and in the states and territories we have heard their voices over a consistently long period.
This has culminated in the work to create a National Disability Insurance Scheme, and we can say today that those families, those carers, people that have been advocating for this for so long, today see the first concrete steps of their work. And this is a very important moment. While the National Disability Insurance Scheme has up to this point been an idea, today for the first time we are seeing the first concrete steps of putting it into place.
In South Australia, this means that young people, people from birth through to age 14 and that cohort moving up through the three years of the trial, will be able to experience a fuller range of services to meet their needs. We were particularly concerned in South Australia to focus on the early years because we believe investment in the early years pays enormous benefits in later life for those young people.
This is something that has been a difficult proposition for South Australia. We have very difficult financial strictures. In the last budget in May we were faced with having to make very considerable savings because of the collapse in revenues because of the global financial situation.
But the single biggest commitment we made in the budget was $212 million extra dollars in relation to disability services, because we knew we had to do more. And as part of that, we earmarked funds to contribute to the trial that we knew the Commonwealth were going to promote in the first phase of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
So we're very proud to be participating in this. We think that this is an incredibly powerful message to people with disabilities, their carers, their families, that we have heard them and that this scheme is going to happen and the first steps have been put in place.
In addition to the matters that the Prime Minister has mentioned, there were also some important discussions in the COAG meeting about the Commonwealth-State financial relations in relation to national partnerships. There's a range of national partnerships that are negotiated between the commonwealth and the states. Many of them are going to expire in coming years.
These represent massive risks to state governments and we've arrived at a set of arrangements that will mean that those national partnerships can be concluded in an orderly fashion with proper notice to states and territories so that we can jointly manage our financial relations and the expectations of the communities in which we all live.
I also want to add my voice to the remarks that were made by the Prime Minister concerning the national electricity market, the interconnected electricity market in the Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. We have seen a dramatic escalation in electricity costs, the lion's share of which has been driven by what we regard as gold-plated investments in relation to infrastructure.
We think that is a consequence in part of the regulatory system, and we believe that the regulator can take steps to ameliorate the growth in those costs which are driving the lion's share of the growth in electricity prices.
So that's an important indication we've given to energy ministers to focus their attention on that work.
PM: Just before we take questions, we also did note that it's Genia's last COAG. After seventeen years in local government, a very long time, she's moving to a different stage of the journey so we very much enjoyed her company and thanked her for her efforts.
Phil Hudson.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is this a setback for the disability insurance scheme, that the two largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, have not signed up? Can you say how much extra money you wanted from Victoria and New South Wales, and if I could ask you Premier Baillieu, why has Victoria not signed up? Was it a question of money? Did you offer any new money at all?
PM: Well I'll take those questions. The National Disability Insurance Scheme is starting. It's starting in three places around the country and I think that's great news. As the Premier of South Australia has said; that means we are moving from a great idea to it actually making a difference for people with disabilities.
We are doing what we need to do to test this scheme so that when our nation can roll it out nationally, and of course I want to see the national rollout, but when we do that we know we are doing it right because we've had the experience in these launch sites.
For New South Wales and Victoria and indeed Western Australia and other jurisdictions, if they want to continue discussions with the Commonwealth, with the Federal Government, about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, then we will participate in those discussions. But I am disappointed that we didn't get to an arrangement today.
The amounts of money above what New South Wales and Victoria had indicated in their bids, the amounts of money are in the order of $70 million across the forward estimates in New South Wales and $40 million in Victoria, these are in circumstances where the Federal Government has $1 billion and where its partnership with New South Wales would have seen it invest around $300 million and with Victoria would have seen it invest around $100 million.
Of course I want to see us working to get more people benefiting from this scheme, but I think it's fantastic that today we're emerging from this meeting with three places around the country where we will see the National Disability Insurance Scheme start.
PREMIER BAILLIEU: Can I say it frank from our point of view in Victoria we have been very proud to have been champions of an NDIS and we want to see an NDIS in place, and that remains and we are very keen to see the trials in place and we are very keen to participate in those trials.
I think for anybody in Australia, but I'll focus obviously on Victoria, but anybody who endures a disability knows how difficult this can be, and we want to assist, and that involves obviously some significant steps when we're prepared to take those steps. We put in a very comprehensive bid in conjunction with New South Wales, and indeed across the two jurisdictions we were looking to some 15,000 people being addressed through those proposals for trials.
It's certainly our view and we believe the view of those advising the Government and it's certainly advising us that the maximum benefit is afforded from a comprehensive trial, the sort of trial that both New South Wales and Victoria could offer. As I say we had a comprehensive bid on the table. In terms of a response from the Commonwealth, we had some concerns about that.
Suffice to say that an alternative response was put to us later today. We're more than happy to assess that as we have commenced doing. We will continue to have those discussions. We've advised the Prime Minister of that, and we look forward to reaching a final position on those.
It wasn't the case that we could reach a position on that today, and I'd say in terms of characterising that, there was a component of that revised response that involved an assessment of risk into the future. We need to make a legitimate assessment of that. That doesn't diminish in any way from our commitment to an NDIS or to the enthusiasm with which we would embrace a trial.
We believe both Victoria and New South Wales offer a positive approach to the trial, and we will work through the response that's been put for us, and look forward to getting a positive outcome.
JOURNALIST: Premier Baillieu, you said alternative proposal, another joint project with New South Wales? Was put to you late this afternoon?
PREMIER BAILLIEU: No, I'm talking about a response from the Commonwealth. And some suggestions and that involved a consideration of risks into the future. We want to make sure that gets fair consideration.
It's very difficult to sit around a COAG table or to stand in the corridors of Parliament House and assess these things in detail. I think we owe it to the disability sector to get this right, and that's what we intend to do.
We've said to the Prime Minister that we've made our ministers available to continue these discussions tomorrow. That will occur, unless there's any unwillingness, I don't think that's the case.
We want to reach a resolution on this but we have to make a fair assessment. I think it is fair to say that when these trials are embarked upon, that they do set an agenda for the future regardless of any statements to the contrary, so we want to make sure we get it right.
JOURNALIST: Premier O'Farrell, if I could, what was your reason for not being able to reach agreement today, and is your bottom line that New South Wales is not going to contribute any extra money above what it already spends on disability?
PREMIER O'FARRELL: Well Phil, obviously like Victoria I'm both optimistic but also disappointed we couldn't reach an agreement today. I'm particularly disappointed that we couldn't reach any sort of funding agreement - not for three pilot programs that will affect around 11,000 people - but for a National Disability Insurance Scheme that when set up will actually benefit more than 400,000 people across the country.
Along with the Liberal premiers today, I was pleased to meet Sean Fitzgerald in Ozzies. He's one of those people who would benefit enormously from a National Disability Insurance Scheme, and that's what ultimately our goal as state and territory leaders must continue to be.
So there was no way today I was going to short change people with disabilities. There was no way today I was going to deconstruct a Productivity Commission report which was clear about the way in which that National Disability Insurance Scheme should be funded.
We have more than $550 million on the table for the three-year trial in the Hunter Valley, to assist 10,000 people. That's a significant commitment, whichever way you look at it. That's on top of the $2 billion in growth funding that we've put forward for disability services in New South Wales under Stronger Together 2.
Last year, last year an additional $600,000 in our budget - a 14 percent increase in disability spend in New South Wales. This year, $800,000 - 12 percent increase. We are doing the heavy lifting. And I'm disappointed we couldn't get agreement today but we are happy to have our disabilities minister, Andrew Constance along with the Victorian disabilities minister come to Canberra tomorrow to try to keep those negotiations going so that the people within Barwon, within the Hunter, have hope of joining in a pilot.
But let's be clear about this, until this group signs up to a National Disability Insurance Scheme we will not be fulfilling our obligations to people across this country with disabilities.
JOURNALIST: Ms Gillard, can you just clarify, is it possible that Victoria and New South Wales, and that's taken as a joint bid right, can still come into this trial at this point? And can you also clarify of those numbers you were requiring amounts to be put in, did those two states offer any extra money?
PM: The answer to your question is Victoria and NSW can still put proposals to me, which I will consider, to have a launch site. It would not need to come back to COAG again, it could be done between now and the next COAG.
But let's be very clear, we have had three jurisdictions - two states and a territory - step forward and say they are prepared to put more money on the table than is business as usual for disabilities, more money on the table and acquit certain benchmark for a contribution by a state or a territory to the care of an individual.
So people get care packages, care packages cost, the cost is going to be shared in the launch sites between state governments and federal governments, the territory government and the federal govermment. So the costs are going to be shared.
These jurisdictions - three of them - have stepped forward and said that they are prepared to lift to here in terms of their contribution. We have asked New South Wales and Victoria to do the same. In order to do that, the amounts of money involved for these states, New South Wales over its forward estimates it's around $70 million, Victoria it's around $40 million.
I am disappointed that we haven't been able to reach agreement over what are comparatively, for govermments in this country, relatively small sums against a Federal Government contribution of $1 billion, $300 million around into New South Wales and $100 million into Victoria.
JOURNALIST: Did they offer anything of that extra money?
PREMIER O'FARRELL: Beside the $570 million we have on the table for the trial, is that what you're saying Michelle?
Let's be clear about the billion dollars here. Despite what I read overnight in some papers which are never believed, there was no additional money on the table today. And I have to say what frustrates me is that of that billion dollars, only $350 million goes to actually providing services to people with disabilities. The rest is admin and set up costs.
PM: The rest is the necessary arrangements to set up the scheme. But nothing gets us away from the maths here. I'm sitting next to a premier who was prepared to step up to a certain figure per care package. That's why he's got a launch site.
JOURNALIST: Given your disappointment, do you think the concept of cooperative federalism is no longer part of COAG?
PM: I'll leave the theorising to others. My determination is to get a better deal for people with disabilities.
JOURNALIST: Just on another issue, a lot of people in remote communities are warning of worsening, continuing problems with petrol sniffing. Some people saying that the answer to that is to make compulsory the roll out of Opal fuel; I don't think your Government's doing that, and I'm wanting to know what the reason is?
The reason I'm asking it in this forum is that there are other premiers here, I guess Western Australia and the Northern Territory who could perhaps reflect on how serious the problem is and what you think the solution is.
PM: Well that wasn't the subject of discussion today, but I'm very happy to say generally from the Federal Government, we think petrol sniffing is a big problem and incredibly destructive problem. I would not be the only leader sitting at this table who's seen a young person who is now being cared for in a nursing home because they've just destroyed their brain through petrol sniffing, and so they need full-time care.
So, dreadful tragedy when you see that for someone who should be absolutely in the prime of their lives in their teens or in their twenties. Now Opal fuel does make a difference. We acknowledge it does make a difference. And we've worked to spread where Opal fuel is provided.
Indeed my recollection is that we've provisioned around $100 million to facilitate the further roll out of Opal fuel. We've certainly done some of that in partnership with the Northern Territory, so I'll go to the chief minister now.
CHIEF MINISTER HENDERSON: Thank you Prime Minister, and yes I saw the stories in the paper this week. There has been a very significant reduction of petrol sniffing in the Northern Territory since Opal fuel started to be rolled out, Prime Minister I think about five years ago, maybe a bit longer than that.
And I absolutely support, as the Chief Minister, that where communities are experiencing petrol sniffing that Opal fuel should be rolled out. The issue in terms of the Lake Nash community that featured in the press this week, Lake Nash itself has Opal fuel in that particular community but across the border - and I'm not sort of making any accusations here - across the border in Queensland, obviously Opal fuel's not available locally so people who want to sniff petrol can find other ways of sourcing petrol.
But what I can say absolutely in the Northern Territory's experience there's been a very significant reduction. Now one child sniffing is one child too many and Opal fuel certainly is very much a large part of answer, and I'm prepared to work with the premiers bordering the Northern Territory to work on a further roll out because it does make a difference, it does work and it does stop kids sniffing.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)?
CHIEF MINISTER HENDERSON: In terms of the Northern Territory it virtually is in every community, it's just where people travel up the Stuart Highway from interstate, and if kids can access the cars. I think it's probably a bit unrealistic to say there should be a compulsory national roll out, but where we have problems, we should be working across state boundaries to ensure that we minimise the availability of leaded fuel to indigenous kids.
JOURNALIST: If I could direct my question at Mr Barnett. What attitude did you bring to the meeting with regard to hosting an NDIS trial and more generally speaking to all of you, how much discussion was there of the old GST carve-up, which is a very popular topic?
PM: You're definitely on Colin's favourite topic, so I'll go to Colin.
PREMIER BARNETT: First on the NDIS, and I have been to quite a few COAG meetings now, almost a veteran. Without exception, premiers and chief ministers arrived at COAG with a great deal of goodwill for an NDIS because it is the right thing to do.
However today, in my judgement, was an opportunity squandered. We did not make the most of what could have been achieved today. And with due respect to the three trials that have been set up, they are small scale, they are in the small states. And we should have seen at least one or two trials in the larger states.
As far as Western Australia's concerned, we put forward a proposal that would have required $135 million funding each by the Commonwealth and the State, I think it was broadly acceptable to the Commonwealth. In Western Australia it's recognised that the level of funding for disabilities is higher than elsewhere in Australia, and also the system is different in a sense, it is decentralised and people are more empowered over choice and control of the funding made available to them, which is where the NDIS is headed toward, and will surpass that.
So I'm disappointed in that sense, that that hasn't happened. I guess the showstopper for the Western Australian proposal related to the Government's model. I don't need to go into that.
With respect to the GST, if I could say so, the group of four met this morning over breakfast, they being the larger states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. And we have, I think I can say for the other states, we are trying to develop a joint position of the larger and the donor states, and we're probably close to a position where we believe that the majority of the GST pool should be allocated on a simple per-capita basis, and the remainder of the pool should be allocated according to needs - in other words to provide if you like that financial protection for the territories and the smaller states.
The system is clearly broken. It is not serving, not only my state, but it is not serving the Australian economy well. It's a broken system and tinkering with it will not solve it.
We need to go to a system that simply suits this century. Not something that was better designed for a hundred years ago.
PREMIER WETHERILL: The proposition that's been advanced by Western Australia would cost South Australia $600 million per annum. And for that to be advanced and any way suggest that this is somehow nation-building exercise or involves treating Australia as one nation borders on laughable.
We have prosperous jurisdictions promoting a carve-up of the nation's resources in a way which would have dramatic affects on the smaller states. Coming from a state itself that was a net receiver of resources from the rest of the nation just a few short years ago, it's breathtaking in its audacity.
Can I say that this is one nation. It was established as a commonwealth, and those words mean something. That the wealth of the nation should be shared equitably, not according to some notion of the rich states taking the resources and keeping them for themselves.
The principles that underpin the horizontal fiscal equalisation - the mechanism for distributing GST resources - are based on the simple principle that wherever you exist in this nation, as a citizen, you should receive the same level of services.
Now how could one advocate against that simple principle of equality across this nation? Are we one nation or are we a series of citizens that decide to keep for themselves the resources that they are just fortunate to happen to be living proximate to.
Now I think it is a proposition which is damaging to Australia as a nation. We came together as a group of equals, and frankly we are not going to be treated in an unequal fashion. We will never cooperate with such an arrangement.
CHIEF MINISTER HENDERSON: I'm disappointed that given the article in the West Australian today, by the Western Australian Premier saying they were, he was going to put forward this 60/40 splits today, I'm disappointed that the gang of four have not come clean with the rest of COAG about this unprincipled attack on the smaller states.
Now, you know, it's not a laughing matter for myself as the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. We're talking about some of the most disadvantaged people in this nation who have a right, who have a right to access the same level of services as all other Australians.
And the proposition being put forward is not about fairness and equity across this nation, it's just an unprincipled dash for cash. It certainly not acceptable to the Northern Territory, and it goes against all the fundamentals of this great commonwealth nation of ours.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) with regards to the NDIS test site?
PM: The issue from my point of view is we are trying to launch arrangements for a National Disability Insurance Scheme. That means that it does have to have national features.
If we end up with a federation of state-based schemes, then even if they start off in the same place, in five years time, ten years time, fifteen years time, we'll end up where we are now, which is, there are differences around the country for how you get treated.
So we need to be testing national arrangements for a national scheme. Testing national arrangements also means of course, that this will give people with disabilities the benefit of knowing that they can move from place to place without jeopardising their service provision.
And I've certainly heard the individual stories of people who would like to move to somewhere else in the country, maybe be closer to family, but who are just terrified that if they move they won't get the same package of care put back in place.
So that's why we want genuinely national characteristics. Now we do absolutely acknowledge that WA is top of the leader board in terms of expenditure on people with disabilities. WA including through its recent My Way initiatives is trialling the kind of, well not trialling, it's got a system which is incorporating the kind of individualised approaches that we want to see for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, where the person with the disability gets to make choices about their care, rather than having the system blitzkrieg in and say you've got to have two of these, one of these and half of the other, even if you would prefer some other mix.
So I very much understand WA's going down that path. Consequently in terms of provision of care, I think there are things we can learn from Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if you can't get agreement on a trial that involves around $100 million of extra spending from the states, what chance is there of getting a full national scheme running that will cost an extra $7 billion, and was there any discussion today about where that money for the final scheme will come from?
PM: The discussion today was on the launch sites, the discussion today was on keeping moving on arrangements that we need to make to have a full national scheme. And you'll see in the communiqué that there's some work progressing around eligibility and around what the standard of care we're aiming at is.
I am disappointed, there's no doubt about that, but you focus, I certainly focus, to get the big things done. And the history of our nation is the big things don't come easy. Whether you're pointing to Medicare or universal superannuation, or native title, the big things don't come easy. Well this is a very, very, very big thing.
And so it's going to take a lot of focus and a lot of work and I'm very determined to do it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the GST, a question for you and then also a follow up for some of the premiers here. If the GST arrangements were changed and the Northern Territory lost out to the tune of a couple of billion dollars, would Canberra be willing to fill the gap and fund the Northern Territory?
And a follow up for Premier Barnett, for Premier Wetherill and for others as well, Ken Henry's talked about increasing consumption taxes, and reliance on consumption taxes. The Grattan Institute's raised options for reform here. Is it time to put a raising of the rate of the GST, and a broadening of the base of the GST, on the agenda, given the arguments that we're seeing?
PM: Well I don't agree with raising the rate or broadening the base of the GST. On the GST distribution issues, I determined quite sometime back that there should be a very high level review of these principles.
I asked two former premiers to do that from either side of politics - former Premier Brumby and former Premier Greiner. I actually announced that review when I was in Western Australia and Premier Barnett who's been a very strong advocate on GST distribution welcomed that review.
It is still doing its work and I think as you've already seen replicated from the discussion at the table, this is not an easy area because we do have an expectation about what it means to be an Australian citizen. We do have that expectation, what it means to be a person who lives in our country. And I don't think any of us would be happy to wake up in a nation where you could point to impoverished places that weren't getting assistance because the part of the nation that they were in didn't have revenue raising capacity.
Now to be fair, when I have discussed these questions with Premier Barnett and others in the past, they have acknowledged that there are places in the country that, with the best will in the world, do not have the same revenue base and revenue raising capabilities.
And Premier Barnett has acknowledged that for a long part of its history, Western Australia was a net taker out of the GST pool, and that's not surprising either. A vast, relatively sparsely-populated place, not surprising it was a net taker, and not surprising that as the economy's changed, those circumstances have changed.
So we do have a very high level review to look at all of this, that's the process that I determined would get us through here, and that review is not yet concluded.
JOURNALIST: I just wanted to touch on something Colin Barnett raised about the fact that they are small trials and they are in small states. Do you actually need a trial in a larger state like New South Wales or Victoria to justify moving to that next step?
PM: We have three trials, that's a good thing. Of course I would want to see further trials if that's possible. But we've got jurisdictions that have stepped up to the benchmark in terms of contribution for care per person and we are asking others to step up to the same benchmark.
JOURNALIST: Question to Premier Wetherill, you've supported NDIS but is it true that South Australian Health are going to cut up to 700 jobs tomorrow?
PREMIER WETHERILL: We are consulting with a range of representatives of health workers and the employees of the Department of Health about essentially getting the costs of our healthcare system under control.
I think this is matter about which I think there will be complete common ground amongst all state and territory ministers; that is that the costs of running a healthcare system are an enormous challenge. And we've done some very important work in controlling demand, but we now turn our attention to the efficiency of the system and that's difficult work. And we're having that conversation with our employees and we'll be having a broader discussion with the South Australian community tomorrow when we release a range of reports.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) cutting jobs?
PREMIER WETHERILL: No, no it won't actually. What we're talking about are efficiencies which are about delivering the same, if not or better services, making sure though that we can do that in the most effective way possible. We're looking at the way in which our system operates, being very careful to quarantine the things that affect frontline services.
JOURNALIST: Premier Newman, just wondering did you put anything else on the table today and you've been very firm in your position on this, I'm just wondering do you have any personal family or friends who face the challenges of a disability and have you visited any disability support services since becoming Premier?
PREMIER NEWMAN: Look I have, and that's as much as I'll say on that. Let's just be clear about a few things. Queensland is putting in excess of $900 million a year into the support of people with disabilities right now.
Should we put more in? You bet. Do we want to put more in? You bet. Can we put more in right now? I'm afraid we can't. And why can't we? Well go and ask Anna Bligh and Andrew Fraser.
This year, this financial year we'll see a deficit of over $4 billion on a $47 billion budget. We do have a crisis in Queensland's finances. We're working hard to solve the problem.
What I'm saying is that in the 2014-2015 financial year, with the plan that we've got to get the state's finances back on track, I believe we'll then be in a position to review our support for the scheme.
We want to be in it. Now we can't do a trial unless the Prime Minister sort of wants to fund it, and I accept that she's not in a position to do that. But we will watch very carefully what's going on. Indeed I'll be talking to our communities ministers about what we can do to try and deliver better services with the resources we've got right now.
And we will watch what's going on with these trials. By the way, I believe that these trials will tell us a lot. I think they're going to be very useful. We will take note of that and implement things as soon as we can out of those things.
So, the problem is in Queensland, we simply don't have the money. Final point is we are not seeing thousands of public servants lose their job as we speak because it's fun. It's not fun. It's really tough on those people, and frankly it's hard for everybody involved in the process.
So far 5,000 people have lost their jobs, there's going to be thousands more to get our financial position sorted out. And we have to make really tough choices right now.
So I'll just conclude by saying we are funding disability services in Queensland to over $900 million a year, we would like to put in more, we need to put in more, we going to try and find the money to do a better job. But it's going to take some time.
JOURNALIST: On another issue and I know you're probably limited in what you can say about it, but is there anything that you can say to reassure Australians that our national security hasn't been compromised by an alleged Canadian spy selling secrets to Russia?
PM: Look, I don't comment on intelligence questions but I can certainly assure people that our national security arrangements are robust and can be relied upon.
JOURNALIST: On the NDIS. There's a clear partisan divide amongst those jurisdictions which have signed up for trials and those that haven't. Can I just ask you and perhaps one or two of Liberal premiers, what do you say to disabled people tonight who may rightly or wrongly conclude this whole program may fall victim to partisan politics, which seems to become more and more prevalent in Australia at the moment?
PM: Well I'm determined to get this done. If the premiers of Victoria and New South Wales have said that they are prepared to keep working on this, I think that's a good sign.
So, I'm determined to get this done. I'm very proud that it's this Labor Government that's said it would do a National Disability Insurance Scheme. That putting the foundation work so we could even be talking about launch sites, very proud that we're in that position.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) to pay for this scheme?
PREMIER O'FARRELL: What I'm saying is that our contribution to the trial is currently in the order of more than $550 million. And what I'm saying is that we're increasing disability funding by $2 billion - 14 percent last year, 12 percent this year.
We're doing the heavy lifting and Phil, you know, I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed because whether it's three or five pilots, it's not a National Disability Insurance Scheme and none of us should be happy until that scheme's established.
PREMIER NEWMAN: I just want to say as well, if I may Prime Minister, we want this to happen. I don't want to leave anyone with any doubt. We want it to happen. And as soon as we can find the money to actually increase our contribution, we're going to do that. Because we recognise we have to. And we want to help people with disabilities.
But it is simply a problem that we have right now. So the trials can occur, 2014-2015 financial year, we'll be revisiting our position on how we get involved.